
Class _ hS g.^as* 



Book 







__ 



Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSE 



/ 00 



Life and Letters 
of Paul 



By THOMAS CARTER, B.D., D.D. 

Professor of New Testament Greek and 
Exegesis in Vanderbilt University 



INTRODUCTION BY 

MRS. HUME R. STEELE 

Educational Secretary, Foreign Department, Woman's 
Missionary Council 



Nashville : Dallas : Richmond 

Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South 

Smith & Lamar, Agents 

1921 



£**** 



O 



o,U> 



Copyright, 1921 

BY 

Smith & Lamar 



JUL 11 '21 



©0.A614967 






CO 



<Sxt 

THE EVER BLESSED MEMORY OF 

THAT NOBLE WOMAN AND 

TIRELESS WORKER 

HJarg i^lm 

Wise in Insight, Mas- 
terful in Achievement 
Christlike in Sympathy 



(3) 



PREFACE 

The life and letters of St. Paul present a perennial 
source of inspiration and an inexhaustible fountain of 
information. 

Whether viewed from the standpoint of progress in 
Christian experience or from the standpoint of better 
preparation for Christian service, the subject of this 
small volume affords the greatest single dynamic in uni- 
versal literature. It is in view of this double need of 
our day — namely, growth in personal experience and 
expression in Christian service — that these studies are 
now sent forth in their present form. 

The whole method and constant aim is to keep the 
reader and student in contact with the New Testament 
material and in easy hand grasp of its most fascinating 
personality — to see him as he moves in and out amid 
the various scenes of his most marvelous career. The 
spirit of missions, the methods of this great missionary, 
and the splendid success that crowned his efforts con- 
stitute the priceless heritage into which the Church of 
all ages is constantly coming. May our Methodist wom- 
en not fail to get their fullest share. 

This book is designed as a companion to the author's 
"Story of the New Testament." Here we have a con- 
centration of treatment impossible in a survey state- 
ment; and while there is some duplication of material, 
it is hoped that the new and larger setting will amply 
justify this procedure. 

As the International Lessons for the latter part of the 
current year have to do with the life and letters of the 
great apostle, it is hoped that this book will prove of 
special service to workers in the Sunday school. 

Thomas Carter. 

Vanderbilt University, March, 1921. (5) 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Preface 5 

Introduction .. . 9 

Chapter 

I. Paul's World 11 

II. Paul's Early Life and Conversion 19 

III. A Decade of Discipline 27 

IV. The Regions Beyond 36 

V. Paul and the "Pillars"— The First General 

Conference 46 

VI. Paul's First European Tour 54 

VII. Ephesus— Before and After 64 

VIII. Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem 71 

IX. Human Violence and Divine Vision 78 

X. A Captive in Csesarea 86 

XI. On to Rome 95 

XII. "Two Whole Years". . 104 

XIII. The Thessalonian Letters 112 

XIV. The Epistle to the Galatians 118 

XV. First Corinthians 124 

XVI. Second Corinthians — The Heart of an Apostle 134 

XVII. Romans i.-viii 142 

XVIII. Romans ix.-xi 152 

XIX. Romans xii.-xvi 159 

XX. Paul's Prison Correspondence 166 

XXI. Paul's Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 186 
XXII. The Approach to Paul 203 

XXIII. The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 212 

XXIV. The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 222 

(7) 



INTRODUCTION 

This book was written some time ago at the request 
of the truly great woman to whose sacred memory it is 
dedicated. It is published at this time at the request of 
the Woman's Missionary Council of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, and is offered as a course in Bible 
study for women and for young people. The study of 
the textbook should be accompanied by a parallel read- 
ing and study of the Bible. It has a deeply vital mes- 
sage, as its study will reveal. The questions appended 
to the several chapters were made out by Miss Helm 
herself, and they are reproduced not only as a memento 
of her work, but also as a tribute to her insight into the 
problems that a mission study class naturally has to 
face. It was thought well to give three general studies 
(Chapters XXII, XXIII, XXIV) for the benefit of any 
who desire a more comprehensive survey than is other- 
wise possible. It is sent on its mission with an earnest 
prayer that it may be used of God to lead the reader to 
say with Paul: "For me to live is Christ." "I live, yet 
not I, but the Christ that liveth in me." 

Mrs. Hume R. Steele, Educational Secretary. 

(9) 



LIFE AND LETTERS OF PAUL 



I. PAUL'S WORLD 

A man is measured by the world he lives in. Even 
before his contact with Christianity, Saul of Tarsus 
was an inhabitant of a large world. He was first of all 
a Hebrew of Hebrews and as such belonged to the one 
great distinctively religious race of antiquity. For, 
however else the Jewish nation was lacking in contri- 
bution to ancient civilization, all students of history 
recognize that she is the preferred creditor of the race 
in the matter of her contribution to the spiritual as- 
sets of humanity. "Salvation is of the Jews" is a due 
comment. While other nations might manifest their 
usefulness and spend their strength in building world 
enterprises or in elaborating great intellectual systems, 
Israel was content to devote her energies to the worship 
of Jehovah and the cultivation of the conscience. Saul 
of Tarsus was a member of this race, and hence a great 
part of his world was dominated by intense religious 
feeling and illustrative of great religious devotion. He 
could never forget, as a Christian, his deep indebted- 
ness to Judaism; nor can we, twentieth century stu- 
dents of his life and work, be unmindful of this rela- 
tionship if we would measure the man or his work cor- 
rectly. 

But Saul was an inhabitant of another world — less 
intense, perhaps, but more comprehensive than the 
world of Judaism. He was also "debtor to the Greek." 
He was a citizen of the World of Literature and General 
Culture, as these were dictated by the city of the sages. 
By the conquest of Alexander Greek influences had 
spread over all the vast area of his marvelous military 

(11)- 



12 Life and Letter $ of Paul 

conquests. Occident and Orient were made to shake 
hands, if not to kiss. Multiplied influences were set in 
motion which led to new lines of communication, and 
Greek culture penetrated to the wild regions of interior 
Asia Minor, and even to the plains of Mesopotamia the 
magic name and fame of Minerva spread. So to the 
narrowness of the Jew there was added in the case of 
Saul of Tarsus the cosmopolitanism of the Greek. 

A third world was that of this great man, and this 
the most important in many respects so far as his after 
life is concerned. He was a Roman born and as such a 
member of the World of Law and Government. 

Such was Saul's world. And he is, in fact, the epit- 
ome of his age. "He had Semitic fervor, Greek versa- 
tility, and Roman energy." As the first century of our 
Christian era represents the confluence of the three 
streams of ancient civilization, so Saul of Tarsus, the 
one transcendent genius of that century, seems to have 
caught up in his own marvelous personality the pre- 
dominant traits of Jew, Greek, and Roman, and so was 
providentially fitted to become all things to all men in 
the mighty task of inaugurating on a wide and endur- 
ing basis the revelation that came to the world in the 
Person and Work of Christ. No less a man than he 
could have accomplished the work with such speed and 
success. The times called for the man, and it was 
Saul's great fortune to hear the call, "Who will go?" 
and his great distinction to reply: "Here am I; send 
me." He himself characterizes his century as "the full- 
ness of time"; and we of to-day cannot fail fo believe 
that the coming of Christ is the focal point of universal 
history. Prom the beginning to the present moment 
the words of Jesus are strictly true. "I, if I be lifted 
up, will draw all men unto me." Christ is the center 
of the cycle of historic movement; as has been graphi- 
cally said: "Christ cuts the chronology of this world in 
two." His coming is the consummation of all antece- 
dent and the fountain source of all subsequent ages. 



Paul's World 13 

Hence the pertinence of Paul's phrase, "The fullness of 
time." 

A brief glance at the history of the world as he knew 
it will give us the apostle's standpoint. The ages ante- 
cedent to the advent of Christ were to him the prepara- 
tory stages of divine revelation. This preparation was 
made along two very distinct lines. The very nature 
of God's redeeming purpose made a twofold prepara- 

a 

tion necessary. The great problem had two sides — sal- 
vation must be prepared for men, and men must be pre- 
pared for salvation. To prepare salvation for mankind 
God chose Abraham and his descendants. The promises 
were given to them; they were graciously chosen to 
be the channel for the communication of God's gift to 
the race. In them all the nations were to be blessed, 
and this was so far fulfilled that to this day it is a mat- 
ter of fundamental fact that "salvation is of the Jews." 
As the chosen people of God and the depositories of the 
divine oracles, they are the standing historical proof 
of God's hand in human affairs. Their geographical 
situation, their national life, and their religious cere- 
monies were all convergent on one point, and that point 
was to make them a "peculiar people." The cloud by 
day and the pillar of fire by night were no isolated ex- 
periences of their wilderness wanderings. Their his- 
tory is shot through with the consciousness of the di- 
vine presence. Hence they came to be the great heralds 
of monotheism; and in their later history, by means of 
their synagogues in Palestine and elsewhere, they served 
Christianity a great turn by disseminating this funda- 
mental doctrine. This, together with the preservation 
of the sacred writings, forms the chief positive or help- 
ing influence that Judaism had on Christianity. It sup- 
plied the divine substance; it prepared (so far as hu- 
man agencies and conditions could do so) salvation for 
the world. 

But salvation, whether that of an individual or a 
world, has a human as well as a divine side. The world 



14 Life and Letters of Paul 

must also be made ready. This was the great part that 
heathenism played; and while it was done unconscious- 
ly, it was nevertheless done well. In four ways this 
came about. 

In the first place, we note the failure of the religions 
of nature to satisfy the longings of the human heart. 
The successive declensions of belief led men to a point 
where they were favorable to the reception of any new 
doctrine which held out the promise of better things. 
From numerous instances in the Gospels and Acts we 
can see with what eagerness the despairing worshipers 
at heathen altars turned to Christianity as a last and 
only hope. 

Again, heathen philosophy in a negative way served 
the purposes of the new religion. That grand system 
which had reached such a lofty height under the think- 
ing of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle had at this time 
sunk to the low level of being well-nigh absorbed in the 
things of sense. And, as men's lives never reach higher 
than their longings, the result could not have been 
otherwise than that they should hold to bald skepticism 
on the one hand or descend to gross materialism on 
the other. From this sad decline the world learned that 
in matters of the soul's inner life philosophy was in- 
deed a poor guide; her pathway led nowhere, save to 
the altar of an "unknown God." 

In the third place, the exertions of heathendom toward 
the attainment of a world-wide empire were Instru- 
mental in preparing human affairs for the introduction 
of Christianity. In this instance, assuredly, the wrath 
of man was made to praise God. The conquests of Alex- 
ander, though born of an ambition as unholy as it was 
insatiable, were made to serve the purposes of the wider 
and far more glorious conquests of the Prince of Peace. 
The Roman Empire — that vast monument to human 
greed and cruelty — was to serve a far more honorable 
end than the highest fancy of the great Julius could 
conceive. That wonderful network of roads which ran 



Paul's World 15 

like arteries bearing the lifeblood of the empire, though 
built for the rapid transport of that perfect engine of 
death — the Roman legion — was soon to be trod by the 
feet of those who published glad tidings of peace; while 
that proud and boastful title of Roman citizenship was, 
at no distant day, to prove the safeguard of the great 
apostle to the Gentiles. 

i 

Another contribution along this line was that of a 
universal language. As we stand before the cross of 
Christ we read the superscription in three languages — 
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin — and these three languages 
constitute a parable illuminating all history. It is true 
that Spurgeon declared that "that wasn't the last time 
Jesus was crucified under Latin, Greek, and Hebrew"; 
but this represents the great preacher's wit and not his 
wisdom. The true meaning of the linguistics of the 
cross is rather to be found in these words: 

"In that inscription of Pilate there seems to be an 
unconscious prophecy of the future destiny of the 
world. From the cross and through the channel of the 
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages have radiated all 
the influences that have made modern civilization the 
precious inheritance it is. That cross was set up at 
the confluence of those three great elect civilizations 
of antiquity which have ever since profoundly affected 
the life, public and private, of Western Europe. The 
Hebrew monotheistic conception of God, the Greek uni- 
versal reason, and the Roman power, and especially the 
languages, have been the secondary means of the propa- 
gation in that portion of the world of Christianity." 

And as among God's choicest gifts to man is the 
power of speech, so one of his choicest gifts to the 
gospel was the gift of a tongue — the Greek — which by 
reason of the Macedonian conquest had become coex- 
tensive with civilization. And herein do we read an 
eloquent chapter in the progress of divine revelation. 
God's first chosen instrument in the revelation of this 
truth to one nation is the simple, artless, rugged He- 



16 Life and Letters of Paul 

brew, the language of the early dawn of faith, the child- 
hood of the race, when all things came by intuition, 
when God is in the sun and the moon and the stars, 
before science has shattered our childish fancies or 
philosophy has hinted her haunting suspicions. God's 
last instrument in the revelation of his truth to all 
nations comes in the fullness of time; when the race 
has reached manhood's stage and has learned the lan- 
guage of art, of literature, of science, and of philosophy. 
A local, simple language — though the language of a 
Moses, an Isaiah, and a David — could not be a fitting 
medium for the communication of a universal gospel. 
It took a racial language to transmit a racial religion 
— a language that in its geographical sweep stretched 
from the Libyan Desert to the banks of the Rhine and 
from the river Euphrates to the Straits of Gibraltar. It 
took a language that by its flexibility of movement, its 
accuracy of expression, and its adaptability to every 
phase of mental operation could become a highway for 
all human thinking, the great trunk line of intellectual 
intercourse. The world needed the gospel, but the gos- 
pel needed a world language, and it found it in the 
Greek, which, as Luther declared, is "the scabbard in 
which there sticks the sword of the Spirit." 

What wonderful providences are these! Christianity 
is proved to be of divine planning ere we hear the first 
words from the lips of its Founder. If we take the 
trouble to fill in the centuries that separate Malachi 
from Matthew, the first words of the gospel are in- 
evitable. The fullness of time had come. Salvation 
was ready for the world, and the world was ready for 
salvation. Long before the voice of John was heard in 
the wilderness the centuries had been clamant with the 
cry, "Prepare ye* the way of the Lord," and as Christ 
had to have a forerunner in the brave Baptist, so he 
had to have an interpreter in the devoted apostle, who 
had the eye to see in his own age the convergence of 
many lines of providential preparation in the fullness 



Paul's World 17 

of time, and, having seen, "was not disobedient to the 
heavenly vision." 

But this is not the whole story. While Paul's world 
was a world to which each of the three great nations 
contributed its quota, it was not solely made up of re- 
ligious, cultural, and imperialistic influences. These 
were the contribution of the several races of Jew, Greek, 
and Roman. But human nature as a whole made its 
contribution, and that is seen in the deep-seated wick- 
edness and prevalent sins of the times. We need only 
to glance at some of Paul's pages to see his horror at 
the moral condition of such centers as Rome, Corinth, 
and Jerusalem. This testimony is not biased, either, 
for the pages of heathen moralists bear out his asser- 
tions to the letter. Slavery was universal, and in its 
wake there followed a thousand social ills. Idleness, 
luxury, the loss of a great number of the tenderer vir- 
tues — these were its constant accompaniments. But 
more and worse, licentiousness had so eaten* the heart 
out of society that its practice caused no shame, and 
Paul's fearful indictment against heathen immorality is 
by no means too severe. Both Greek and Roman civili- 
zations were rotten at the heart. The old civic virtues 
had been displaced by the inroads of private and public 
corruptions that had entered in with their contact with 
the Orient. Tyranny and cruelty were omnipresent. 
The suffering incident to the successive slave wars, civil 
wars, and wars of conquest was enormous. With re- 
gard to the Roman world particularly one of the great 
historians has this to say: 

"As regards the manners and mode of life of the Ro- 
mans, their great object at this time was the acquisition 
and possession of money. Their moral conduct, which 
had been corrupt enough before the social war, became 
still more so by their systematic plunder and rapine. 
Immense riches were accumulated and squandered upon 
brutal pleasure. The simplicity of the old manners had 
been abandoned for Greek luxuries and frivolities.' 
2 



>» 



18 Life and Letters of Paul 

The moral degeneration and social degradation of 
some of the centers of population during Paul's day 
are simply indescribable. Insatiable greed, wanton 
cruelty, and widespread sensuality were the triple al- 
liance that banded themselves together to destroy so- 
ciety. Matthew Arnold's picture is not overdrawn: 

"On that hard pagan world disgust 

And secret loathing fell; 
Deep weariness and sated lust 
Made human life a hell. ,, 



II. PAUL'S EARLY LIFE AND CONVERSION 

Special Suggestions for Study 

Scripture Material. — (1) The following references are 
from Paul's own pen or reported from his mouth. Study 
the context and see the application of each reference 
to the case in hand: Acts xxii. 3; Philippians iii. 5, 6; 
Acts xxiii. 6; Acts xxvi. 4, 5; Galatians i. 14; Acts xxii. 
20; Acts xxvi. 9, 10; Galatians i. 13. (2) Read the three 
accounts of Paul's conversion as given in Acts ix., xxii., 
and xxvi. Compare the versions as given by Luke and 
Paul; also contrast the two given by Paul himself. Do 
not the different circumstances attending the delivery of 
these two speeches sufficiently account for their differ- 
ences? 

General Helps. — (1) Constant use of marginal refer- 
ences will greatly elucidate the study. Paul is his own 
best commentator. (2) A good Teacher's Bible has a 
number of valuable suggestions. If you have such, 
read the section on Acts in the division entitled "Sum- 
maries of New Testament Books." (3) Keep constantly 
at hand a map of the Roman Empire. 

Introduction. — Our last study sought to set before us 
the general conditions of Paul's world. With this we 
begin the study of the specific phases of his life. We 
shall do well to confine ourselves to his early life and 
conversion. We cannot exaggerate the importance of 
his early life as a providential part of his equipment 
for his later work. We cannot overestimate the para- 
mount influence of his conversion on the Christianity 
of his day and all time. The one we may truly say 
made Paul as we know him possible; the other made 
Christianity as we know it possible; and just as we 
trace the finger of God in the larger movements of 
universal history, so we cannot fail to see a divine 

(19) 



20 Life and Letters of Paul 

providence in the life of this chosen vessel, even before 
that vessel was meet for the Master's use. Happily 
most of our information with regard to this phase of 
the great apostle's career comes from his own lips or 
pen. It is he that tells us that he was born at Tarsus; 
that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel at Je- 
rusalem; that in his pre-Christian life he excelled all 
his fellows in his zeal for his ancestral faith; and final- 
ly it is his own tongue and pen that set forth most 
vividly his conversion. This gives us the framework 
for our present study. It might be well to give our 
attention to each of these four points. 

I. As to his birth and childhood. 

If the proper place to begin the training of a child 
is at the cradle of his grandparents, Saul of Tarsus 
was most fortunate. He is no religious parvenu, no 
ecclesiastical upstart, no impertinent tyro breaking into 
the realm of the world of religion. In one sense, like 
all true religious leaders, he is a miracle, but in a sense 
just as true he is the legitimate outcome of his heredity 
and his environment. If he could see so clearly in the 
case of his "son in the Gospel," Timothy, the great ad- 
vantage of a religious education in the home, he cer- 
tainly would not be blind to his own great privilege in 
this particular. Hence the pertinence of his statements 
in his own account of his early life and training. In 
these expressions he emphasizes the fact of his parents* 
zeal and devotion no less than his own. In fact, the in- 
ference is easy that he was what he was along these lines 
because they were what they were. His circumcision on 
the eighth day, his being reared in the strict fashion of 
the Pharisees, his life of conformity to the tenets of 
Judaism from his earliest youth, his blameless moral 
character and high ideal of conduct — to whom shall the 
praise for these be given save to the father and mother 
who in the midst of a wicked and adulterous genera- 
tion, in the quiet of a godly home far away from the 
heart of the beloved nation, maintained their integrity 



Paul's Early Life and Conversion 21 

as God's faithful servants, and, despising the seductive 
allurements of a heathen environment, fired the soul 
of their son with an ardent passion for righteousness 
and, all in ignorance of the great world harvest that 
was to be reaped, sowed faithfully the seeds of re- 
ligious truth that were to spring into such marvelous 
fruitage and later under the invigorating rays of the 
Sun of Righteousness were to prove such an abundant 
sustenance for the, soul hunger of the race? As the 
world's debt to John Wesley is not paid till it calls 
to mind the sweet influences of the Epworth Rectory 
and casts its meed of praise at the feet of the saintly 
Susanna, so we cannot pay our debt to Paul till we 
have tracked our way back to the home at Tarsus and 
done honor to that unnamed mother who bore him and 
at whose knees his infant ears first heard Jehovah's 
name, and in whose life his boyhood eyes first glimpsed 
that vision of godliness he was afterwards so fully to 
describe and illustrate to the sons of men. 

Tarsus remains to-day only a miserable shadow of its 
former self. In St. Paul's time it was a city ranking 
in population, wealth, commerce, and culture with Ath- 
ens and Alexandria. It was a free city and as such 
enjoyed great privileges. The influence of Greek and 
Roman activities on the bright boy's mind can hardly 
be overestimated. Many of Paul's expressions in the 
Epistles may be traced back to his vivid recollection 
of sights and scenes of his early boyhood days. How 
far heathen associations were allowed to play upon 
him it is not easy to determine. His parents were He- 
brews and his grandparents too, and their loyalty to 
Rome would by no means weaken their love for Jerusa- 
lem. In all probability these parents w T ere more strict 
in their training in Tarsus than they would have felt 
it necessary to be had they been rearing^ their children 
in Jerusalem. At any rate, while we need not deny the 
influence of heathen training in the education of the 
youthful Saul, still we must not overemphasize it as 



22 Life and Letters of Paul 

some do. All the references that later on in his writ- 
ings and speeches Paul makes to Greek literature can 
be easily explained on the basis of general contact and 
do not require the hypothesis of special training. 

With regard to the Hebraic influences, much more 
positive is our opinion. As strict Pharisees, his parents 
would see to it that their boy was trained most care- 
fully in the religion of his fathers. At five he was set 
to memorizing portions of the Scriptures, at six he was 
sent to school, at ten he would begin the study of the 
oral law, and at thirteen he became a "son of the com- 
mandment. ,, This was a ceremony something like our 
Christian confirmation. What ambitions may have 
stirred his youthful heart we do not know; but surely 
when the time came for him to set out for Jerusalem 
to complete his education and master his profession, we 
can readily conceive the emotions that must have filled 
his soul. He was to go to Jerusalem, the city of the 
Great King, the joy of the whole earth. There he was 
to sit at the feet of the great Gamaliel and be prepared 
for his life work. 

II. This brings us to his professional training. 

If later on in life the hope of seeing Rome filled him 
with a sort of patriotic intoxication, can we imagine 
that Jerusalem would prove less attractive at this 
time? And so we find him there sitting at the feet of 
Gamaliel for his life training. Next to the formative 
influence of his home rearing must be placed that of 
the great teacher. As he had been fortunate in his 
parents, so now Providence continued to smile upon 
him in his preceptor, for great he certainly was. All 
the glimpses we get of Gamaliel stamp him as a man 
of large mold — wise, kind, broad, gentle, a "doctor of 
the law had in honor of all the people." All this and 
more was the sage at whose feet the youthful Saul 
sat; and, as happens oftentimes, the pupil soon out- 
stripped his master in zeal and courage and energy. 
Here it was that he became skilled in rabbinic lore and 



Paul's Early Life and Conversion 23 

learned the dialectic art so amply illustrated in his 
letters. The impress of this period never leaves him. 

III. We now come to the third point in Paul's career 
and see him as a religious zealot. 

How long Saul remained in Jerusalem it is impos- 
sible to say. It seems certain, however, that he left the 
sacred city before the ministry of Jesus began, and in 
all probability he went back to his native city to become 
the rabbi of a local synagogue. The Cilician Jews are 
among those that appear later as the persecutors of 
Stephen (Acts vi. 9). How much this zeal for Judaism 
may be due to the teaching and example of the young 
rabbi we do not know. At any rate, this fact seems 
to show that the connection between the city and the 
province was more or less intimate. This may account 
for Saul's return to Jerusalem. Possibly his great suc- 
cess in Cilicia as a Jewish leader led to his being sent 
for to come to the capital when Christianity grew to 
such threatening proportions, just as later, as a Chris- 
tian evangelist, his success in this same Cilicia called 
him to what was for a time to become the capital city 
of Christianity. A metropolitan spirit cannot be con- 
fined to an outlying province. It gravitates inevitably 
to the* center. 

So when Jerusalem saw the whole world going after 
the new sect, she doubtless sent for her loyal son, and 
he responded with eager haste to her cry for help. 
During his absence her affairs had indeed become des- 
perate; a prophet had arisen in Galilee and had thrilled 
the whole of Palestine with his marvelous personality; 
a band of followers few in number and puny in strength 
at his death had suddenly multiplied exceedingly and 
become most powerful; the cause for this they assigned 
to be the resurrection of their leader. Their faith in 
this fact had made them giants. They had challenged 
the nation to show cause for its conduct in crucifying 
the Christ; the leaders were at their wits' end to stay 
the tide that seemed to be sweeping all before it; Peter 



24 Life and Letters of Paul 

and John, two illiterate fishermen from Galilee, had 
silenced the Sanhedrin; and now a new leader In the 
seraphic Stephen had arisen; the law was discounted; 
the temple was to be destroyed; Moses was to be super- 
seded! Can we imagine the stirrings of the soul of 
Saul when he heard such sentiments as these? The 
law, the temple, Moses — these constituted for him the 
sacred triumvirate, the God-ordained channels of re- 
ligious instruction to the race. He could not think in 
terms of religious faith and devotion apart from these. 
And all three were to be swept away! What was to 
take their place? Why, the law, great and compre- 
hensive as it was, was to give way to a simple principle 
of universal brotherhood; the glorious beauty of the 
temple was to fade away before the simple purity of 
the human heart; and Moses was to resign in favor 
of a nondescript Galilean peasant, who had lived the 
life of a common tramp and died the death of a gib- 
beted malefactor. No wonder the zeal of the young 
rabbi flamed out in a fury of righteous indignation. 
No wonder before the eyes of the persecuted disciples, 
cowering in their fear of imminent destruction, he 
loomed as some huge wild beast breathing out threaten- 
ings and slaughter. 

IV. The pivotal point in Paul's life was his conver- 
sion. 

How could such a man be reached? Can we imagine 
anything in his heredity or his environment able to 
compass his conversion? Was there any likelihood 
that any Christian in Jerusalem at that time would have 
approached him on the subject? Were they not all 
going in the opposite direction? And was not he doing 
everything in his power to speed their going? And so 
the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is unique among the 
New Testament conversions. Every other conversion 
is brought about by the employment of human means. 
His is not. In the first chapter of Galatians he proves 
this with regard to his call to the apostleship, and what 



Paul's Early Life and Conversion 25 

he says with regard to that call is just as applicable to 
his call to be a Christian. For in Saul's case these 
two are one. We cannot imagine Saul a Christian 
and not an apostle. If he was ever to be an apostle, 
Christ must speak to him; if he was ever to become a 
Christian, Christ must speak to him. He himself de- 
clares time and time again that this is what produced 
the wondrous transformation. That the transformation 
did take place, the beautiful Christian character of the 
new convert, the New Testament with its universal 
religion, and twenty centuries of Christian expansion 
are the indubitable proofs. And however much men 
may argue or philosophers may theorize, all explana- 
tions fall far short of the simple statement of the man 
himself. "And last of all, as unto one born out of due 
time, he appeared to me also." In his eyes he was 
both last and least, and to the day of his death the 
memory of this transcendent mercy of Christ never 
left him; for among his last words we find these ac- 
cents of sincerest humility mingled with the note of 
greatest gratitude: "I give thanks to Christ Jesus, who 
accounted me faithful, though I was formerly a blas- 
phemer, a persecutor, and an insulter." It is this last 
statement that shows us Paul's own position. He had 
things reversed. He was persuaded that the Christians 
were blasphemers of God, persecutors of his people, and 
insulters of the Messianic ideals of the nation. He 
needed light. His motive was powerful, and the mar 
chinery of his nature was in good condition — but his 
direction was wrong. The flash light of Christ's pres- 
ence showed him at a glance the fearful mistake. A 
man so earnest, so truly religious, and yet so fearfully 
wrong! Here was the tragedy of Saul's condition. As 
zeal for heaven's cause impelled him onward, nothing 
save a voice from the sky could compel a retreat. All 
the threats that men could marshal, all the allurements 
that men could conceive — all would have failed utterly 
to make Saul swerve a hair's breadth from his deter- 



26 Life and Letters of Paul 

mined goal. He had sworn destruction to the infant 
Church. He had accomplished the death of the only 
leader who at that time really comprehended the con- 
tent of Christianity. With Stephen gone, the rest in 
all probability would have been easy. Humanly speak- 
ing and historically speaking, the alternative was: Con- 
vert Saul of Tarsus to Christianity or consign the 
Church to destruction! When such a crisis was at 
hand, why cavil at a miracle? It would have been a 
far greater wonder had the heavens not been rent 
asunder and the voice not spoken. It took the Christ 
of God to see in Saul, his most inveterate foe, the 
future Paul, his most devoted friend. And he was will- 
ing to stake his all on the impression a true view of 
himself would make on the woefully misguided man. 

No wonder as Paul thought on this marvelous trans- 
action he was constrained ever to say: "For this cause 
I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might 
show forth all long-suffering, for a t pattern to them 
which should hereafter believe on him." 

1. Where was Paul born? What special privileges 
did he gain by that city being his birthplace? 

2. Of what tribe was he, and to what national party 
did he belong? (Phil. iii. 5, 6.) What do you know of 
the teachings and customs of that party? 

3. Prom whom did he receive professional training? 

4. What was his attitude toward the first Christians? 

5. What part did he take in the death of Stephen? 

6. For what purpose did he go to Damascus? 

7. What account is given by Luke in Acts ix. of the 
scene on the road to Damascus and later in that city? 

8. What does Paul say in Acts xxii. of his conversion? 

9. In Acts xxvi. to whom did he recount the scene? 

10. What differences do you note in these three ver- 
sions? Show how these differences are due to the dif- 
ferent circumstances under which Paul is represented. 

11. State in general the result of Paul's conversion 
and indicate some special points wherein his trans- 
formation affected the new faith. 

12. Present a brief sketch of the condition of the 
world of Paul's day. (See Chapter I.) 



III. A DECADE OF DISCIPLINE 

Scripture Material. — Acts ix. 17-30, xi. 19-26; Gala- 
tians i. 15-24; 2 Corinthians xi. 23-33. 

Introduction. — Our last study closed with the fact of 
Paul's conversion. That was an epochal incident both 
for the man himself and for the future history of the 
race. But God's dealings with a man do not close with 
his conversion. That cannot be an end in itself. It 
may be of sufficient importance to warrant the inaugura- 
tion of many lines of providential preparation, as in the 
case of Saul of Tarsus; but the conversion of even such 
a man as he is not the sole goal of God's endeavor. For 
ringing through that initial experience of his Christian 
life there comes the music of a far diviner purpose: 
"Thou shalt be a witness to all men." For the attain- 
ment of this end a certain course of training is abso- 
lutely necessary. If Paul is to make disciples, he must 
first of all himself become a disciple. And a disciple is 
one that has been subjected to a process of divine dis- 
cipline. So for this present study we have an insight 
into God's curriculum for the construction of character. 
The ten or more years from Paul's conversion to his 
first missionary journey constitute the period of the 
apostle's apprenticeship; the time of testing and train- 
ing, when the fibers of his faith grew tough and the 
life purpose of the man flamed into an ardent passion. 
The successive stages of this disciplinary process we 
shall now rapidly sketch. 

The Discipline of Humiliation 

And first of all there was the discipline of humilia- 
tion. What more needful for the proud Pharisee Saul 
than that he should take a course in this primary quali- 
fication for Christian life and service? No greater anti- 

(27) 



28 Life and Letters of Paul 

climax is possible than that suggested in the ninth 
chapter of Acts when Saul, unhorsed and blinded, 
gropes his way into Damascus and, led by the hands 
of his servants, seeks help and pardon from the humble 
follower of Jesus. He that had come clothed in all 
the habiliments of rank now stands stripped of all 
power and in his utter helplessness has exchanged the 
persecutor's sword for the supplicant's plea. No recep- 
tion could have been more antipodal to his anticipa- 
tions. To crave mercy at the hands of one he purposed 
to murder — this was bitter medicine for a soul that had 
leaped so high in its vaunting pride as that of Saul. 
Bitter, yes! And yet far better that he take it. For, 
strange physic of the Great Physician, it sweetened his 
own character and at the same time made him the 
medium through which the world has learned most 
clearly the glory of humility. In this way Paul, like 
the prophet, discovered that the dwelling place of the 
high and lofty One is not only in the high and holy 
place, but also in the contrite and humble spirit. 

The Discipline of Solitude 

But the soul of Saul, harassed by the unparalleled ex- 
periences of these strange days, needed another disci- 
pline. If he needed to learn the utter emptiness of him- 
self, he needed also to learn the unutterable fullness of 
Christ. Where was he to learn this lesson? Not surely 
in the crowded streets of Damascus; not in the noisy 
wrangling of unbelieving Jews; not even in the sweet 
companionship afforded by the new-found band of breth- 
ren. God must come into direct touch with this man's 
soul. If he is to be a fountain of life to others, he must 
himself touch the Source. Hence we hear him saying: 
"Straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood, 
. . . but I went away into Arabia." This is the dis- 
cipline of the desert — the discipline that comes to every 
man and woman when all human ties are broken, when 
earthly associations fade away, when we lose the sense 



A Decade of Discipline 29 

of this world's pull and feel ourselves encompassed in 
an environment that excludes all save God. It is the 
experience of Jacob when he was "left alone. ,, Strange 
paradox! It is at such a time when we are least alone. 
For God is nearer, and his companionship is our fullest 
life. "For this is life eternal, ... to know God." 
And this knowledge comes only when we give God and 
ourselves a fair opportunity to get acquainted. Such 
was the desert to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to John 
the Baptist, to Jesus, to Paul, to Luther, to John Wes- 
ley — to any and all men and women who have met God 
face to face and heard him speak in their own tongue 
his marvelous message of Love. 

In the case of Paul, how significant this experience! 
It was for seclusion and not for service that he hied 
himself away. And if, as some think, his journey car- 
ried him as far south as the Sinaitic Peninsula and he 
stood before the awful grandeur of the "mount that 
burned with fire, ,, how inevitable would be to his mind 
the emphasis upon his own call and consecration as an 
epochal man in the order of God's providential revela- 
tion! He could not forget that a millennium and a half 
before there had stood in this place Moses, the Media- 
tor of the Law; a thousand years before Elijah had fled 
to this far-famed Mount of God and there got strength 
for coming conflict; and, now that both Law and 
Prophets were to have their fullest consummation, how 
fit that the feet of him that was to expound both most 
clearly should stand upon the scene made forever mem- 
orable by the experiences of these two ancient wor- 
thies! The length of this stay we need not seek to com- 
pute in months. There are epochs in human experi- 
ence when life is not measured by the ticking of the 
clock or the coming and going of years. There are 
times when time itself does not count. The partial and 
the relative are merged into the perfect and the abso- 
lute. Such was the sojourn to Saul. Here it was 
that by the mutual interplay of introspection and reve- 



30 Life and Letters of Paul 

lation — that marvelous correspondence of the human 
and the divine Spirit — this man had burned into the 
very innermost recesses of his soul the secret of the 
Saviour's life and death and resurrection and exalta- 
tion. And who shall say what visions and revelations 
came to him in this supreme moment when he realized 
in all its fullness the glorious fact that God had gra- 
ciously chosen him to be the gateway by which the 
world was to pass from the gloomy rigor of the Old 
Covenant into the light and liberty of the New? 

The Discipline of Banger 

If the discipline of the desert brought to Paul visions 
of the powers of the world to come, the discipline of 
the dangers that encompassed him on his return to 
Damascus brought vividly to his mind the kind of op- 
position he must encounter as a herald of the new faith. 
Luke is careful to tell us of the sensation sprung when 
the new convert began to preach in the city of his spir- 
itual birth. First, amazement seized the populace that 
such a persecutor should become a proselyte; then con- 
fusion took possession of the Jews; then a council 
was formed to kill the preacher; and, as a final out- 
come, in the nighttime the apostle was hustled over 
the walls by friendly hands and thus fled for his life. 
And whither did he flee? To Jerusalem, whence he had 
come three years before. Contrast the two trips. From 
Jerusalem to Damascus — pride, arrogance, cruelty, 
vaunting ambition; a retinue of servants, the pomp of 
pageantry, the glorious Eastern sunlight, and the thrill 
of the conqueror. From Damascus to Jerusalem — hu- 
mility, submission, gentleness, self-sacrifice; only one 
companion and that One unseen; no noise, but instead 
the stealth of one who fears that every footfall may 
arouse a foe; no light save that of the stars, as from 
time to time their faint glimmer breaks through the 
branches of the trees or the crags of the hillsides in 
whose shadows skulks the timorous traveler; no longer 



A Decade of Discipline 31 

the thrill of the conqueror, but the consciousness of the 
conquered. He is led captive by the mighty power that 
has entered into his life; but, strange to tell, he finds 
that he is happier than he was in the days of his former 
freedom. 

Doubtless in this journey Paul experienced some of 
the dangers he recounts in the eleventh chapter of 
2 Corinthians; but through them all God brought him 
safely. Finally, foot-sore and weary, his eye caught the 
flashing glories of the temple dome, and his soul was 
refreshed with the sight of the city of the great King. 
Jerusalem, the joy of the whole earth, lay before him. 

The Discipline of Being Misunderstood 

Many a time in the days now forever gone, as a pil- 
grim from his far-away home in Tarsus, had Saul joined 
in the song that voiced the joy of the caravan as they 
entered the Holy City: "Our feet are standing within 
thy gates, Jerusalem. . . . Peace be within thy 
walls." With what changed feelings he must have en- 
tered at this time! All things had become new, and 
the ancient city was to be no exception. It was a new 
place to him, and hence his life had to be the very 
opposite of what it had been hitherto. What he for- 
merly loved he now loathed; what he formerly loathed 
he now loved. Hence he parts with the Pharisees and 
cleaves to the Christians, or at least makes a heroic at- 
tempt so to do. And it is in this endeavor that tliere 
comes the fourth discipline — namely, the discipline of 
being misunderstood. Is there not a sort of dramatic 
justice in all this, bitter though it was? As Saul the 
Pharisee he had grossly misunderstood the Christians 
and their Master; as Paul the convert he was made 
to feel the pang with which suspicion always stabs the 
soul. Such is the pathos of the misunderstood. All 
great souls tread this path at some time. Paul was no 
exception. The disciples disbelieved him and would 
have none of his companionship. What a chilling blast 



32 Life and Letters of Paul 

to sweep over his soul after his long and lonely journey! 
Doubtless all the way he had stayed himself with the 
thought that in Jerusalem he would find a welcome 
handgrasp and an atmosphere of sympathy. But, alas 
for his reckoning! He had made a record there, and 
his past life loomed larger than his present profession. 
Instead of a warm heart, he found a cold shoulder; in- 
stead of being received as a brother, he was shunned 
as a traitor. We need not doubt the dramatic justice 
nor the divine purpose of all this. Those whom God 
calls to be spiritual leaders must tread the winepress 
alone; they must be made perfect through suffering. 
And there is no suffering so searching as that entailed 
by suspicion — especially if it emanate from those whose 
companionship we covet. 

Fortunately for Saul, not all were sons of suspicion; 
there was one "son of consolation." With a breadth of 
soul impossible for a Jerusalem Jew or even for a Gali- 
lean disciple of Jesus himself, Barnabas became sponsor 
for him and gave him the right hand of fellowship. 
This won the rest, and soon the transformed Pharisee 
is inflaming the city. But the time of Paul's departure 
is not yet at hand. He must not be a second Stephen; 
one martyr has died; this one must live. And so the 
plot that would have ended his life is thwarted by the 
vigilance of the brethren, the heart that might well have 
quailed at the hugeness of the opposition is strangely 
strengthened by a vision from the Lord, and the preacher 
is suddenly transferred to another scene. 

The Discipline of Probationary Service 

This scene was Tarsus, his home. Here he was to 
undergo the discipline of the nome field. And herein 
is a discipline of the most rigorous sort. Ezekiel had 
felt this when he heard his commission: "Thou art not 
sent to a people of a strange speech. If I sent thee to 
them, they would hearken." And yet the man who is 
to be the herald of a world-wide faith is not worthy of 



A Decade of Discipline 33 

the call if he have no message for the man next door. 
Crossing a stretch of sea does not make a missionary — 
Jonah is the only instance, and he is a poor specimen 
at best. The kingdom of missions is within us, and 
we will not be better missionaries in the heart of China 
than we are in the circle of our own community. The 
discipline of the home field is demanded of every man 
that would go to the uttermost parts of the world. If 
our religion cannot stand the scrutiny of friends and 
if the loved ones of our home do not call forth the best 
of our efforts to secure their salvation, how can we 
hope to have a stronger motive or a larger opportunity 
in the midst of the chilling blight of heathen darkness? 
If we are not faithful in that which is our own, who 
will commit to us that which is another's? 

So Saul has his seven years of service in the home 
land. What specific success he enjoyed we do not . 
know. But we need not doubt that many stars were 
added during this time to the Saviour's crown. He 
could tell the story of the Gadarene demoniac. And 
we may be sure that he told it with all the gladness 
and earnestness and eloquence he could summon. The 
fact that he continued in his home province in safety 
so long and the further fact that his fame as an evan- 
gelist soon spread as far as Antioch seem to indicate 
that his work in Cilicia was a triumphant success — a 
splendid foretaste of future achievements. 

The Discipline of Larger Opportunity 

Having had the discipline of humility, the discipline 
of the desert, the discipline of danger, the discipline of 
being misunderstood, and the discipline of service on 
his native soil, the apprentice is now ready for the 
next stage in his progressive advancement— namely, the 
discipline of the larger opportunity. Sometime before, 
through humble disciples, the gospel message had spread 
out from Jerusalem in all directions, especially toward 
the north, and had finally come as far as Antioch in 
3 



34 Life and Letters of Paul 

Syria. Here some bold spirits had broken entirely 
with the past and had preached to Greeks the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ. The news of this had caused con- 
sternation to the conservatives of the capital city, and 
as a precaution they had deputed Barnabas to go and 
look into the matter. When he got on the ground, he 
sized up the situation in a trice. The vision of Anti- 
och displacing Jerusalem as a center of Christianity 
thrilled his heart. What could the new faith not do if 
it were separated from the narrowing tendencies of all 
that Jerusalem stood for! He did not give himself 
over to mere religious ecstasy. The narrative states 
briefly that "he was glad" and then goes on to de- 
scribe how he set about to find the man that could cope 
with the real conditions. He knew the leaders of the 
Church at Jerusalem. He runs them over in his mind: 
Not Peter; not James; not even John could fill the 
bill. What a tragedy! Not one of the twelve, nor all 
combined, can meet the crisis. All at once human 
sagacity and divine intuition unite, and there flashes 
before the mind of this good man, who was full of the 
Holy Ghost and of faith, the figure of his old-time 
friend, Saul of Tarsus. Not a moment is lost. A per- 
sonal visit and search is made, and soon he returns to 
Antioch with the one man and the only man that can 
grapple with the problem. Here during the twelve 
months' ministry that followed Paul completes his 
d;ecade of discipline — that period of probation that 
proves his purposes and his principles and points him 
out as worthy to become the pilot that shall guide the 
gospel ship over seas uncharted hitherto and into ports 
before unknown. During these ten years Christ has 
been making all things new — not only Saul of Tarsus. 
A new center has been chosen for his Church, a new 
name has been given to his followers, a new voice has 
been found for his message, and soon new worlds will 
thrill with the conquests of his cross. 



A Decade of Discipline 35 

1. Of what kind of life was Paul's conversion the be- 
ginning? 

2. What was his first question? Was he obedient? 

3. When a man would disciple others, must he not 
himself be disciplined? 

4. What was Paul's first stage of discipline? 

5. What difference in him is noted between his going 
to Damascus and his leaving there? 

6. What was the next stage of discipline? What les- 
sons did he learn in Arabia? 

7. What was the third stage of discipline? 

8. What were some of the dangers he endured at this 
time and later? 

9. What was the fourth discipline? 

10. Is not being misunderstood one of the bitterest 
trials in life? Why did Paul need it? 

11. What test of fitness for discipleship was next given 
to Paul, and how did he respond to it? 

12. Detail the larger opportunity for service that came 
to the apostle as the result of his surrender to the will 
of God. 

13. Compare Paul's period of preparation for service 
with that of Moses. Compare it with your own. 



IV- THE REGIONS BEYOND 

Scripture Material. — For the narrative: Acts xiii. 
and xiv. For parallel study: The Epistle to the Gala- 
tians. On what is known as the South Galatian theory 
this epistle was directed to Churches which Paul found- 
ed on his first missionary journey — namely, the Church- 
es in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe; 
hence the pertinency of reading this epistle as parallel. 

Suggestions for Study. — (1) Keep constantly in sight 
a good map. Make a list of the places touched and the 
distances traveled, at the same time keeping the general 
direction in mind. (2) Outline the sketches of Paul's 
sermons given in this section of Acts and contrast the 
methods used by him under varying conditions. 

Introduction. — Our last study brought us to the new 
center, the new name, and the new man; our present 
will show us the new field, and as a result of the culti- 
vation of this field the new consciousness that inevi- 
tably came over the Church with regard to the divinely 
directed destination of the gospel it heralded. The 
broadest division of our topic, then, is Missions Abroad 
and at Home. This seems to reverse the usual and 
logical order, but in this case it had to be so. The 
peculiar position held by the early Church, especially 
the mother Church in Jerusalem, made it necessary that 
the invasion of the heathen world should take place 
first before it could be brought face to face with its 
solemn obligations and be fired with sufficient enthusi- 
asm to undertake such a huge task as that of the evan- 
gelization of the nations beyond the pale of Palestine. 
For we must recall the age-long inertia of Judaism, her 
exclusiveness, and her consequent lack of interest in 
human affairs generally. This was carried over into 
Christianity, and, as a result, Judaic Christianity was 
(36) 



The Regions Beyond 37 

well-nigh impervious to any appeal looking to a wider 
extension of the gospel than that to the Jews them- 
selves. It is true that before this time Peter had 
preached to Cornelius; but he had done this only after 
a heavenly vision; and after this he had to make an 
elaborate defense before his comrades for his conduct. 
In spite of this manifest indication of the purpose of 
God, the eyes of the Jerusalem Church were still closed 
to the harvests that were already at hand and her 
heart too much self-centered to feel sympathy for the 
nations all about her that were groping in darkness. 
This must be the meaning of the abrupt transition from 
the last verse of the twelfth chapter to the first verse 
of the thirteenth chapter of Acts. How full of rebuke 
is the vivid contrast between Jerusalem, the City of 
God, and Antioch, the capital of heathen Syria, in this 
regard! Jerusalem, occupied with her own misfortunes 
and resisting steadfastly every appeal to make a for- 
ward move to the conquest of the nations for Christ; 
Antioch, willing to part with her foremost leaders in 
order that the genius of universal Christianity may 
express itself. Need we wonder that it was to the lat- 
ter that the divine command came? 

Jesus, in Acts i. 8, says: "Ye shall be my witnesses 
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost part of the earth' 9 With Acts xiii. 
begins the section treating of this great Gentile world. 
And we shall consider: (1) The Occasion of the For- 
ward Movement. (2) The Personnel of the Expedi- 
tion. (3) The Places and People Visited. (4) The 
Principles Illustrated and Results Achieved. 

The Occasion of the Forward Movement 

With regard to this first point no incident in Church 
history shows more conclusively the intimate connection 
between prayer and missions. Jesus connected the two 
when he said: "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he 
thrust forth laborers into his harvest." These two have 



38 Life and Letters of Paul 

ever been indissolubly united. It is the famous Hay- 
stack prayer meeting that dates the modern mission- 
ary crusade. So we are not surprised when we read 
that it was while the leaders of the Church at Antioch 
were ministering to the Lord and fasting that the mis- 
sionary message of the Spirit made its way to their 
hearts. Christianity reverses some well-known physi- 
cal laws. It is a fact not only that we go faster on our 
knees, but we also see farther and hear better. Again, 
the Spirit's voice calling to distant fields is much more 
apt to be heard in a Church that is busily engaged in 
the propagation of the gospel in the homeland. In 
fact, there is no doubt that the great revival which had 
been going on for a year in Antioch had prepared the 
soil for this good seed to fall in, and this illustrates the 
great truth that really there is no far and near in the 
kingdom. When we are assiduously cultivating the 
Christian character of the children about the fireside or 
in the Sunday school we may oe doing the very largest 
possible things for the foreign fields. A third truth 
comes to us with mighty force from this scene, and 
that is, The true missionary dynamic is the power of 
the Spirit. Our Boards may plan, our pastors may 
call, our colleges may train, but the missionary is not 
born in any of these externals; he is born, if born at 
all, by the vitalizing power of the Holy Spirit. He is 
the great Thruster-forth; and when men go forth im- 
pelled by the motive he implants, they are mighty 
through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of 
sin and Satan. 

The Personnel of the Expedition 

In the next place, we have to ask: Who were the 
men so highly honored as to receive this commission 
from the skies? The answer is brief, but certain — the 
foremost workers in the home Church. If Christ died 
to save the heathen, can the Church do less than send 
the very best she has in the way of prayer and means 



The Regions Beyond 89 

and men? Can any fault be found with the logic of 
the Church at Antioch in obeying the call of the Spirit 
and parting with her strongest men? Five men are 
named, and of these the first, Barnabas, and the last, 
Saul, are chosen for this great enterprise. Ought not the 
Church of to-day, the colleges of to-day, and the home 
circles of to-day sit at the feet of this mother Church 
of missions and learn from her the secret of separating 
the flower of their possessions for the work whereunto 
God hath called them? The work itself first of all de- 
mands the best. The dangers are many, and hearts of 
true courage are needed; the problems are difficult, and 
minds of great strength are in demand; the sacrifices 
are heavy, and nothing save the utmost devotion and 
loyalty to Christ and his cause will win. Again, the peo- 
ple to whom these messengers are sent are worthy of 
the best. Many of them are savage, 'tis true, but no 
individual, no nation has had a full and fair chance to 
become what God intended till Christ's marvelous power 
and leverage have been exerted. And, last of all, it is 
Christ's cause, and he is worthy of our choicest treasure. 
So thought the Church at Antioch as with glad hearts 
and ready hands they consecrated Barnabas, the Great 
Heart of apostolic days, and Paul, the Peerless, to the 
holy task of saving the nations beyond. 

The Places and People Visited 

As to the direction of the journey, Barnabas, whose 
name comes first at this point in the story, seems to 
have had the determining influence. Arriving at Se- 
leucia, the seaport nearest to Antioch, they sailed thence 
to the island of Cyprus, the early home of this Son of 
Exhortation seeming to be the most inviting field. Al- 
ready the gospel had been carried there (Acts xi. 19), 
and already the fact had been demonstrated that the 
Cyprians had been among the first to discern the uni- 
versality of the Christian message. In fact, they had 
been among those (Acts xi. 20) who had brought the 



40 Life and Letters of Paul 

message of salvation to the Greeks at Antioch itself. 
So what more natural than that these considerations 
should move the band southward to this long-famous 
island? Here they met in miniature the world problem. 
Here were degenerate Jews, profligate Greeks, and Ro- 
man officials. The religion of the country was the wor- 
ship of Venus, and in many of its phases it partook of 
the very lowest forms of superstition and basest sort 
of sensuality. The argument was: If the gospel could 
make no impression here, the workers had better turn 
their faces homeward. But the gospel did have imme- 
diate and great success, and hence their logic led them 
on. In the synagogues and elsewhere they preached 
and baptized as they made their way westward and up 
and down till they came to Paphos, a city on the south- 
western coast, still in existence under the name of Baf- 
fa. (Acts xiii. 6-12.) Here there was a signal demon- 
stration vouchsafed to them of the presence and power 
of God in the conversion of the Roman Proconsul, Ser- 
gius Paulus, and the complete overthrow of the rene- 
gade Jew, Elymas. Negatively and positively these in- 
cidents could mean nothing less to the Christian work- 
ers than the prophecy of the downfall of error before 
the march of the truth they represented and the in- 
corporation of large numbers of believers from the 
Gentile world. With the enthusiasm which their suc- 
cess on the island engendered, they now head north- 
west for the mainland and seek a wider sphere for 
labor, disembarking at Perga, in the province of Pam- 
phylia. This name Pamphylia signifies "all-tribe land," 
and here too was the foreign field in a nutshell. More 
than seventeen nations had their location in Asia Minor. 
Idolatry was all but rampant throughout the whole ex- 
tent of this country — only relieved here and there by a 
sprinkling of Jews in the principal cities. If Cyprus 
had proved a favorable field, this, on the other hand, 
was quite forbidding. Travel was very difficult — in fact, 
at many times and places impossible — and, what was 



The Regions Beyond 41 

worse, the whole southern section was infested with rob- 
bers. Possibly it was the consideration of such ob- 
stacles and perils as these, coupled with the inborn in- 
ertia of Jerusalem Christianity combined with a spell 
of sickness on the part of Paul (Gal. iv. 13), that caused 
Mark at this crisis to leave his more courageous breth- 
ren and go back to his home (verse 13). The two 
dauntless hearts of Paul and Barnabas do not make a 
halt till they reach Antioch in Pisidia, the province 
due north. Here occurs the notable incident of Paul's 
preaching in the Jewish synagogue (verses 14-43), 
wherein we get a good example of his method of 
preaching his gospel message to the Jews and have the 
first specimen of his sermonizing that has been reported 
with anything like fullness. The impression on the first 
Sabbath was so marked that by unanimous request he 
gave a second address a week later. But to this the 
Gentiles came in such crowds (and thus doubtless 
brought to the minds of the Jews the warning Paul had 
previously uttered to them) that they became alarmed 
and began to contradict and blaspheme. To such a 
pitch did they carry their opposition that the preach- 
ers were forced to abandon their efforts to reach the 
Jews and at once made the memorable discovery that 
henceforth their mission was to the Gentiles, The an- 
nouncement of this program had the double effect of 
arousing the joy of the Gentiles and the inveterate 
jealousy of the Jews (verses 44-52). To such an extent 
did this latter grow that in a few brief days their work 
in Asian Antioch was at an end; they were ignominious- 
ly cast out of the city; and, not knowing what further 
awaited them, they set out for Iconium, which lay about 
sixty miles to the southeast. As usual, they went to 
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and on their first 
proclamation of the gospel many among Jews and Gen- 
tiles too believed. The unbelieving Jews, however, 
proved a source of persecution here also (Acts xiv. 1-5) ; 
and though the doughty preachers tarried a long time 



42 Life and Letters of Paul 

in Iconium and had a large success, finally the persecu* 
tion rose to such a height that the whole city was di- 
vided, and the discovery was made that a conspiracy 
had been formed by Gentiles and Jews and the officers 
of the city to kill them. This they wisely prevented 
by flight and soon found themselves still farther south- 
east, in Lystra. Here they were at last in the heart 
of heathenism, and their success was hastened by the 
cure of a cripple. This caused the people to receive 
them as gods, and soon they were seeking to worship 
Barnabas as Jupiter and Paul as Mercury (verses 6-18). 
Here at last were receptive hearts. The gospel began 
to vindicate itself at once as the desire of all nations; 
and Paul's preaching was immediately adapted to the 
needs of the situation. No telling how long or how 
successful their stay here would have been had not the 
Jews from Antioch and Iconium come to dog their foot- 
steps and overthrow their plans. Here it was that Paul 
got his stoning, receiving the penalty he had seen 
Stephen suffer and for the same reason — that of herald- 
ing a gospel for the Gentiles (verses 19, 20). Strange 
history repeating itself; strange Nemesis that the blood 
of the martyr in Jerusalem should be avenged away out 
in the wilds of Lycaonia! And behold another parallel! 
Just as in Jerusalem the sight of the bleeding body of 
Stephen caught the eye of a Saul, so also here in Lys- 
tra a Timothy was standing by, and doubtless the elo- 
quence of Paul's gaping wounds was greater than that 
of his sermons to this disciple-to-be. But fortunately 
Paul's death was but a hypothesis on the part of his 
foes; his friends, as they stood about him, suddenly 
had their grief turned to great joy as he rose up from 
the stupor caused by the stoning and led them back 
into the city. On the next day he and Barnabas de- 
termined to go to Derbe, where it seems they preached 
with no interference on the part of their persecutors. 
This constitutes the limit of the first movement. They 
were now within a few miles of Tarsus in Cilicia, Paul's 



The Regions Beyond 43 

home and the scene of his first extended labors. Why 
did they not go at once into friendly territory and be 
at ease from anxiety and bodily harm? No real mis- 
sionary doubts the answer. They could not be at ease 
with those converts they had made uncared for; they 
must return and give them the inspiration of their 
presence, organize them into congregations, and set over 
them suitable leaders (verses 21-25). 

The Principles Illustrated and Results Achieved 

As the apostles are retracing their steps it might be 
well briefly to review some of the basal principles illus- 
trated in this first missionary journey. Five will be 
stated, and it would be well for the reader to look up 
the proof of each. (1) As to the direction of the jour- 
ney, everything seems to have been left to the gradual 
unfolding of circumstances and their interpretation in 
the light of the Spirit's leading; (2) as to the selection 
of centers, it is not hard to see that the idea of Paul 
was to plant Christianity in the chief cities and so take 
advantage of every influence that could be used for its 
subsequent development; (3) in each such strategic 
point an organization of the converts was effected and 
provision made for the future growth of individual 
Christian character; (4) as to people approached, it 
was a settled policy to attend the synagogues, where 
such existed, and seek the conversion of Jews first; 
and (5) as to teaching, they everywhere carried the 
message of the resurrection of Jesus and the story of 
his life and death. Among Jews they sought to show 
that this flowed legitimately from the Old Testament, 
and among Gentiles they sought to show that Christi- 
anity is the only adequate sequel to the intimations of 
natural religion. 

These principles owe their origin to the sagacity of 
the leaders; but we must not lose sight of three other 
things that contributed largely to the success of the 
mission. These are first of all the universality of the 



44 Life and Letters of Paul 

Greek language, which gave the apostles access to all 
these various tribes; the second is the Roman govern- 
mental authority, which gave them the sense of protec- 
tion so necessary to the advance of missionary work 
even to-day; and the third is the presence of Jewish 
synagogues in nearly every place. These served as a 
base of operations; and though oftentimes they became 
centers of opposition, still through the channel they af- 
forded the preachers were able to reach many, both 
Jews and Gentiles, and were led to see that, as they 
had been sent out from Antioch by the Holy Spirit, 
this same gracious Spirit had preceded them and pre- 
pared the hearts of many for the reception of the truth; 
for everywhere, in spite of fierce persecution, they had 
met those who "were ordained to eternal life." 

On their return they added one new center, Perga, 
which they did not evangelize on their trip inward. 
Now the chain was complete; a line of Churches ex- 
tended for more than three hundred miles from west 
to east and one hundred miles north and south. A ter- 
ritory between twenty and thirty thousand square miles 
in extent pioneered in about three years by two men. No 
wonder they hastened from Perga to tell the Church at 
Antioch the thrilling story of their initial conquest 
(verses 26-28). What a praise meeting must have been 
held as a sequel to the prayer meeting of three years ago! 
What a fresh current of spiritual life must have struck 
this Church when these two missionaries came back and 
with the added momentum of increased efficiency and 
more heroic faith began again to work in their midst! 
They had the additional joy of realizing that God had 
through them opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles. 

And this last statement constitutes the legitimate 
sequel to all true missionary endeavor. It brings to 
the home Church a consciousness of the power of the 
gospel, a consciousness of the universality of its own 
mission, and a consciousness of the real essence of our 
holy religion that can be obtained in no other way. 



The Regions Beyond 45 

When we obey the command involved in Christ's last 
commission, and accept the challenge it issues to our 
faith, and assume with energy the conquest it implies, 
we then enter upon the full joy of the companionship 
which it promises. 

1. From what Church did Paul's first missionary jour- 
ney begin? By what power were he and Barnabas 
called and sent forth? 

2. What occasioned this "forward movement"? What 
accompanied it? 

3. Why should it begin at Antioch instead of at Jeru- 
salem? 

4. Who and what character of men were chosen for 
the missionaries? 

5. What is said of the people and conditions on the 
island of Cyprus? What significant incidents occurred 
at Paphos? 

6. What were the conditions in the province of Pam- 
phylia? Who left them here, and why? 

7. Give a summary of Paul's first sermon in the syna- 
gogue at Antioch in Pisidia. What effect did it pro- 
duce? 

8. What was the effect of his second sermon, and to 
what did it lead? 

9. What success did they have at Iconium? What 
followed? 

10. What series of miracles and startling events oc- 
curred at Lystra? Give a summary of Paul's sermon 
to the Gentiles there and state wherein it differs from 
that to the Jews. 

11. What five basal principles are illustrated in this 
first missionary journey? 

12. Discuss briefly the three historical conditions that 
contributed largely to the success of the missionaries. 

13. State the practical results of the venture and in- 
dicate the sequel as reflected in the Church at Antioch. 



V. PAUL AND THE "PILLARS"— THE 
FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE 

Scripture Material.— Acts xv. and Galatians ii. 

Suggestions. — (1) It would be well to outline the 
chapter in Acts and give your own characterization to 
each section. (2) Study carefully the chapter in Gala- 
tians, recalling that this is a first-hand account. Note 
the divergences from Luke's narrative and try to ad- 
just them in the light of the different viewpoints of 
the respective authors. 

Introduction. — Our last study closed with the en- 
larged consciousness of the Church at Antioch, due to 
the widening of her missionary horizon. Our present 
study brings to our notice another sequel of this same 
missionary movement, and this is by far the more criti- 
cal of the two — namely, the influence that the success 
of Christianity among the Gentiles had upon the Jewish 
Christians at Jerusalem, This is one of the most sig- 
nificant phases of early Church life and history, for it 
precipitated the most momentous crisis that apostolic 
Christianity was ever called upon to face, and it gave 
the occasion for Paul to come forward and become the 
literary leader of the whole movement. This twofold 
aspect of this epoch warrants our giving it careful 
study; for any influence so potent as to threaten de- 
struction to the Church itself and so vital as to call 
forth such writings as Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 
and Romans certainly merits all the attention we can 
bestow. 

Let us look, then, briefly, at (1) the Problem Involved, 
(2) the Preparations for Its Solution, (3) the Proceed- 
ings of the Council, (4) the Policy Adopted, and, final- 
ly, (5) the Publication of the Decree. 
(46) 



Paul and the ''Pillars'' 47 

The Problem 

This in general was to decide the terms upon which 
Gentiles were to be admitted into the communion of 
the Christian brotherhood. This was the issue clearly 
drawn when the self-constituted inquisitors went down 
from Judea and taught at Antioch that people could not 
be saved unless they were circumcised after the man- 
ner of Moses. The paradox of this position is seen in 
the fact that they addressed such teaching as this to 
people who were already enjoying the experience and 
exhibiting the fruits of the Christian life. No wonder 
this action caused a stir in Antioch, where now for 
several years the new faith had been established and 
from which as a center it was radiating light and life 
in every direction. No wonder the leaders of the Church 
there, Paul and Barnabas, who had just returned from 
a wide and thrillingly successful evangelistic campaign 
among the heathen, where they had seen scores and 
hundreds believe on Christ and receive the gracious gift 
of the Spirit — no marvel that these two "had no small 
contention" with the purveyors of such perverse teach- 
ings! This was the general question sprung. But there 
were two others involved. In the first place, the uni- 
versal character of Christianity was impeached by in- 
sisting on this rule of entrance into its fold. If the 
position of these held good, then Christianity was sim- 
ply an appendix to Judaism — Christ a mere complement 
to Moses. Another great principle at stake was the 
validity of the apostleship of Paul himself. Hence it 
is that he is sprung to such a personal part in this con- 
troversy. He had just been through the Galatian coun- 
try and founded Churches, and here, right on the heels 
of the victory he had won for the cause of Christian 
freedom, there came those who sowed the seeds of sus- 
picion in the souls of his sons in the gospel; his call to 
be an apostle was derided, his connection with Chris- 
tianity was declared to be secondary, and his converts 



48 Life and Letters of Paul 

were urged by all the arts and trickery of the profes- 
sional proselyter to repudiate their former friend and 
teacher. They were indeed in a desperate strait, and 
Paul was too. For he had staked his all on being a 
true apostle of Christ, and he was ready to call any 
man, or angel for that matter, accursed who preached 
any other gospel. But what if the leaders of the Church 
at Jerusalem thought and taught otherwise? If we 
may believe his own words, it matters not a whit. 
He felt sure, of course, that they were on his side; 
but whether they really were or not, Paul was absolute- 
ly indifferent. But three things he saw clearly and 
boldly determined on: the freedom of the Gentiles must 
be maintained, the universality of Christianity must be 
established, and his own apostolic vocation must be 
vindicated. Hence the resolve to "carry the war into 
Africa" itself and win in the stronghold of conserva- 
tism a victory for the Christian cause. 

Preparations for Solution 

Note the careful preparations made for the successful 
issue of the deputation. The persons chosen are Paul 
and Barnabas, two true yokefellows and first-hand wit- 
nesses of the power of Christianity — minus Judaism — 
in many a heathen country. With these are associated 
"certain others" among whom Paul tells us was Titus, 
a converted heathen, who was taken along doubtless as 
a sample of the salvation wrought by spiritual Chris- 
tianity when preached on heathen soil. These delegates 
are sent forth with the whole moral and spiritual mo- 
mentum of the great Antiochian Church behind them, 
and as they proceed on their way they wisely cultivate 
public opinion in Phoenicia and Samaria by declaring 
to the brethren there the conversion of the Gentiles; 
so that by the time they reach the neighborhood of 
Jerusalem all Palestine is ablaze with the thrilling news 
of large conquests in the heathen world, and all hearts 
are singing for the joy that such victories have pro- 



Paul and the "Pillars'' 49 

duced. So the delegates are swept into the capital 
city on a mighty wave of popular enthusiasm and are 
gladly received by the Church and the apostles and the 
elders. Under such favorable conditions they were 
able to rehearse with great vividness and power all the 
things that God had done with them. What historian's 
pen could describe the sensations of those purblind 
provincials, who foolishly imagined that God never 
looked beyond the walls of their own temple, when Paul 
and Barnabas began to tell some of the marvelous 
things He was doing in the far-away wilds of Pamphylia 
and Pisidia? As for Barnabas, how his noble nature 
must have felt a sense of pardonable pride when he 
stood once again in the midst of the Mother Church 
with the consciousness that his sponsorship of Saul 
the Suspect had been vindicated a thousandfold! As 
for Paul, how his eye must have glistened and his 
bosom must have heaved as he told in Jerusalem, the 
place of Stephen's stoning, the story of his own ex- 
perience at Lystra and the strange mercy that had 
spared his life! And Titus, too — how his heart must 
have been stirred as he, a converted heathen, stood 
there in the city of the great King — no longer an alien 
from the commonwealth of Israel, but one brought nigh 
— a visible proof of the power of gospel preaching and 
an eloquent prophecy of a race redeemed by faith apart 
from the works of the law! What a melting and a 
moving time that first meeting must have been! Doubt- 
less there would have been no need of any subsequent 
private or public conference had only the two factions, 
Gentile and Jewish, been present. They could in all 
probability have come together on the basis of the sim- 
ple rehearsal of God's doings through the nands of his 
servants. But there were others of a different mind 
and heart; there were certain of the Pharisees who 
were believers. These rose up in their narrow, punc- 
tilious pride and declared that Paul and his partner 
had not completed the Christianization of those people; 
4 



50 Life and Letters of Paul 

they must go over the ground again and circumcise all 
their converts and charge them to keep the law of 
Moses. We can imagine — or rather we cannot imagine 
— how the author of Galatians met that proposition. 
In that epistle he is talking to his children in the faith, 
for whom he is suffering anew the pangs of spiritual 
maternity, and yet, though a parent speaks, the words 
startle and smart and scorch. What must have been 
the force and fury of his logic when brought face to 
face with those who expounded the false teachings 
that had lured his loved ones from their former loyalty! 
We may not look upon that lively scene. Both the his- 
torian and the chief actor have passed it by in silence. 
Luke has likewise left another meeting undescribed. 
It is probable that the private interview referred to by 
Paul took place between verses 5 and 6 in the Acts ac- 
count. In his Galatian letter, in a series of sentences 
tinged with both humor and subtle sarcasm, Paul tells 
us of this preliminary meeting with the "Pillars. " He 
was too well informed with regard to Jerusalem convo- 
cations and too wary a general to hazard the whole 
problem on the outcome of a mass meeting. He had 
attended mass meetings before — the sequel to one he 
could never forget was a stoned saint. And so every 
prompting of prudence and policy urged that Paul and 
the "Pillars" understand each other thoroughly. He 
himself does not tell us all that we should like to 
know. Was Titus circumcised? Who were the false 
brethren? Who brought them in? What was their 
object in trying to spy out? What does he mean ex- 
actly by "those who were reputed to be somewhat"? 
Is this Paul's way of hinting that the great triumvirate 
— Peter, James, and John — from whom he had every 
reason to expect a speedy solution of the trouble, were 
amazingly weak and insecure? We may be able to get 
but partial answers to these and many other questions 
relating to this private conference. Still the outcome 
of it was such that all were in the end willing to com- 



Paul and the "Pillars'' 51 

mit the problem to the whole congregation for discus- 
sion. This was freely indulged in after the usual man- 
ner, and then the principal speakers were heard from. 

Proceedings of the Council 

In the council of course Peter spoke first and took 
occasion to remind them of the part he had already 
played in this problem of Gentile conversion; in his 
eyes the sequel to his ministration to Cornelius showed 
that it would be tempting God to insist on Gentile con- 
formity; far from compelling heathen to conform to 
Judaism in order to become Christians, he stated that 
it was his conviction that Jews had to become Chris- 
tians just as the Gentiles did. Paul and Barnabas in 
turn arose and told again the romance of their mission 
tour and clinched their points by exhibiting Titus. But 
there was still a more potent voice for this crowd to 
hear. James, the brother of our Lord and head of the 
Mother Church, was the only man who really held the 
helm of the gospel ship at that time and place. He saw 
clearly the danger that threatened; the maelstrom of 
misunderstanding and mutual mistrust must be missed; 
the Scylla of Gentile liberty and the Charybdis of Jew- 
ish exclusiveness must equally be shunned, else the good 
ship will be engulfed ere she is fairly launched. Great 
is now the need for clear eye, strong hand, and brave 
heart. James has all three requisites. In a short ad- 
dress, which is unparalleled for its wise policy, apt 
quotation, and sensible judgment, he caught the con- 
flicting currents of vague opinion and prejudice and 
turned them into the channel of a clear-cut conviction. 
This was all that was needed. 

The Policy Adopted 

The policy advocated by James and adopted by the 
conference was in the nature of a compromise. Its 
mover had the wide horizon to see that if either side 
was forced to give everything and get nothing the 



52 Life and Letters of Paul 

situation would not be helped. And so, while his 
motion was that the Gentiles be not troubled with such 
burdens as the rite of circumcision and the ritual of the 
Mosaic law, still as they in turn were surrounded by 
Jews who would necessarily be unwilling witnesses of 
many practices among the heathen, he thought that it 
was no more than fair that the Gentile Christians should 
abstain from the pollution of idols, from fornication, 
from what was strangled, and from blood, so as not to 
arouse the prejudices of their Jewish brethren. This 
was certainly a reasonable request; and however dim- 
cult it may be for us at this day to understand this 
fourfold combination of abstinences, still it became the 
basis of agreement that united all factions. 

The Publication of the Decree 

Now that the purpose of the conference was con- 
cluded, we see a fine bit of brotherly business in the 
method adopted for publishing the proceedings. A let- 
ter was written denouncing as unauthorized the nar- 
row doctrine that had precipitated the trouble, a hearty 
commendation was given to Paul and Barnabas, and a 
clear statement of the sense of the assembly closed the 
document. This was then sent back with the delegates 
from Antioch by the hands of two prominent members 
of the Jerusalem Church, who were not only to deliver 
the decree, but also to tell by word of mouth the sub- 
stance of the synod's finding. This was indeed a happy 
thought, for it cemented all the stronger by this double 
personal bond the Churches of Antioch and Jerusalem, 
which had come so near misunderstanding each other 
in the matter of fundamental principle. And while we 
know that there was a great storm ahead and many 
dangers were still to threaten, the skies had cleared 
for the present at least and tranquillity and peace had 
become the portion of all concerned. 

Need we wonder that the news of the outcome of the 
conference set Antioch all aglee? The universality of 



Paul and the "Pillars" 53 

Christianity was now no longer in dispute; the author- 
ity of Paul, their fearless leader, had been vindicated; 
their own aggressiveness in propagating the gospel 
into foreign parts had been stamped with the approval 
of the Mother Church — in short, a great crisis had been 
met successfully — and so with glad hearts they erected 
their Ebenezer and entered with courage upon another 
era in their conquest of the nations for their Lord. 

1. What great crisis in the Christian Church followed 
the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas? 

2. State the problem and what three vital questions 
it involved. 

3. What preparation did the Church at Antioch and 
Paul make to meet the difficulty? 

4. What three delegates were sent to Jerusalem, and 
what part was each to have in presenting their cause? 

5. What did they do by the way? 

6. How were they met by the Jerusalem Church? 

7. What class of men made trouble at the first meet- 
ing? 

8. What does Paul say in his letter to the Galatians 
about an interview he had with the "Pillars" of the 
Church? 

9. What did Peter say in the council about his own 
"Gentile experience"? 

10. What convincing proof did Paul and Barnabas 
add? 

11. How did James quiet the strife and save the 
Church? 

12. What wise policy was adopted? Was any prin- 
ciple compromised? 

13. What method was adopted to publish the proceed- 
ings of the council? 



VI. PAUL'S FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR 

Scripture Material. — (1) Read Acts xv. 36 through 
xviii. 22. Make a careful analysis of the address at 
Athens, study the conditions at Corinth, and also seek 
to estimate the significance of Paul's protest at Philippi. 
(2) Several special points receive illumination from 
Paul's own pen as he writes to the Thessalonians. Es- 
pecially is this true of the First Epistle to the Church 
there. For example, for a personal testimony to the 
persecution at Philippi read 1 Thessalonians ii. 1, 2; 
some one might be selected to write a paper on Paul 
as a pastor, using as a basis verses 3-12 of the same 
chapter; later on, in chapters ii. 17 through iii. 2 we 
have references to his experience in Athens; while the 
unique sympathy of Paul for his European converts is 
beautifully reflected in iii. 6-10. 

If one has access to a good Bible dictionary, it will 
be a source of great satisfaction to look up the names 
of the places and the persons that figure in this section 
of the history. Nothing comes closer to us of the twen- 
tieth century than this great journey of the first mis- 
sionary. The development of modern Europe and pres- 
ent-day America hangs in the balance as we follow 
Paul the great pioneer of Christianity and civilization. 

Introduction. — After Judas and Silas had performed 
their mission they were dismissed by the Church at 
Antioch and told that they might go back to Jerusa- 
lem. Silas, however, chose to remain. The American 
revisers very unwisely omit verse 34; but this verse is 
necessary to the proper understanding of how he came 
to be Paul's partner on the second missionary Journey, 
which is the basis of our present study. Naturally, the 
suggestion of this journey comes from Paul. We saw 
in the last study the strength of the bonds of love and 
(54) 



Paul's First European Tour 55 

sympathy that united him to his converts; and now that 
the General Conference had decided the question of 
Gentile standing, he would have this further reason 
for seeking them out as soon as possible. So, after 
some more home work, Paul made his proposition. It 
is so clear-cut that we do well to quote it: "Let us re- 
turn now and visit the brethren in every city wherein 
we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they 
• fare." We see from this restriction as to persons and 
places that Paul little anticipated the wonderful out- 
come of this short sentence. Barnabas at once fell in 
line; but, unfortunately, the way was blocked and mis- 
understanding unhappily clouds the scene. Barnabas 
evidently hoped that Mark had improved since his prior 
defection, and possibly he had. Abundant opportunity 
had been afforded him for a revision of his views. When 
he saw the missionaries return and heard their thrill- 
ing accounts of divine blessings that he had just missed, 
and when he saw the conservative element in Jerusalem 
itself applaud their labor, he doubtless felt ashamed of 
his former cowardice and possibly importuned the lead- 
ers that he be given "another chance. ,, The ties of 
kinship and his own inherent magnanimity prompted 
Barnabas to deal tenderly with the young man. But 
Paul stood firm. With him Mark found no place for 
repentance, though he might seek it diligently with 
tears. The man who refused to go to the work before 
is too uncertain a quantity to count on now. So Mark 
is left behind. And really it is a great providence. A 
man may be unfit for work abroad who can do magnifi- 
cent service at home. And this Mark illustrates. His 
residence in Jerusalem brought him in contact with 
Peter, and later on he becomes his constant companion 
and gets from him the insight and inspiration to write 
the second Gospel. A man may be a faithful attendant 
of Peter who would not be able to keep in sight of Paul. 
Later on, moreover, Paul himself says some very pleas- 
ant things about Mark, which shows that there was no 



56 Life and Letters of Paul 

resentment in the apostle's heart. It was simply a case 
of honest difference, influenced on the one side by the 
partiality that naturally accompanies kinship and on 
the other by that fervid zeal that knows no quarter 
for lukewarmness. The sequel shows that the sagacious 
choice was made by Paul. When we divide forces that 
are really Christian, we do not diminish but multiply. 
When two such men as Paul and Barnabas separate, 
we have two journeys instead of one; and in place of 
three workers we soon have a dozen. While we have 
no details of the work done by Barnabas and Mark, still 
Luke's silence is not due to any contempt he has for 
their contribution to the Christian development of the 
day, but solely due to the fact that he is following the 
stream of progress on which Paul has launched his 
life. 

We shall study this section under four heads — namely, 
(1) Visiting the Old Fields, (2) The Vision of the New 
Fields, (3) The Capture of the Citadels, and (4) The 
Beginnings of Christian Literature. 

Four words briefly summarize this period and the 
principles involved. These words are: Organization, 
Evangelization, Centralization, and Education. 

Visiting the Old Fields 

Paul, in company with his new helper, Silas, starts 
out on his overland journey, taking a northern and then 
a westerly course, and passes through Syria and his 
own home province, Ciiicia, "confirming the Churches." 
This was the scene of his early labors, where he spent 
seven or eight years. How much greater must have 
been the momentum with which he drove home the 
truth after all that had intervened! The present visit, 
however, does not seem to delay the missionaries. The 
mere sight of Paul after so long an absence, especially 
in the light of what he could tell them by the joy in 
his face and the gleam of his eye, was itself a means 
of grace. Fields farther west call the workers on. To 



Paul's First European Tour 57 

Derbe and Lystra they hasten and pick up the youthful 
Timothy — providentially prepared and more than an 
offset for the loss of Mark. Finding him "well spoken 
of" by the brethren of two cities, Paul is convinced that 
here is a man born for leadership. And with this addi- 
tion to the band they hasten still farther northwest 
until they reach Antioch in Pisidia, in which place they 
deposit the decrees of the Jerusalem Council, thus 
finishing the work they had set out to do. The fifth 
verse of the sixteenth chapter of Acts marks the culmi- 
nation of their ambition when they set out. "So the 
churches were strengthened in the faith and increased 
in number daily." No persecution, but constant progress; 
nothing to do now but to look upon the territory al- 
ready encompassed as the Heaven-allotted field and sit 
down and coddle the communicants already collected! 
Not so, thought Paul and Silas and Timothy. The 
momentum of missions drove them on. The lure of 
the lost was more potent than the call of the Church. 
They could well afford, they thought, to leave the ninety 
and nine safe in the fold and go out on the mountains, 
if need be, to save the straggling and the struggling 
sheep. Many of our Churches reach this first stage; 
they "are organized,'' and that is the end of it. Why 
in the name of all that is sensible should a congrega- 
tion, made up of converted men and women enjoying the 
presence of the Spirit and Christ's blessed communion, 
monopolize the time and energies of an apostle, when 
ivhole continents are still untouched by the gospel's 
mighty power? Paul never would have tried to answer 
this question — he didn't take time to ask it. 

The Vision of the New Fields 

At Antioch the missionaries were just two hundred 
miles from Ephesus, on the western coast of Asia Minor. 
In all probability Paul's purpose was to enterprise an 
evangelistic tour through this chain of provinces with 
that great city as an ultimate goal. To plant the gospel 



58 Life and Letters of Paul 

in Ephesus would indeed be the work of a genius. For 
it overlooked the whole JEgean and was the gateway to 
both Orient and Occident. But the purposes of God are 
broader than the measure of man's mind. The time 
was not for man to plan. Here then begins that series 
of guiding influences that all through the centuries has 
stamped the seal of the supernatural on the work of 
propagating the gospel in foreign parts. The very fact 
that they are "foreign" to the workers demands that 
they look to God for guidance. Hence we are not sur- 
prised to find this described in three stages. First, the 
Holy Spirit forbids their preaching in Asia; secondly, 
the Spirit of Jesus suffers them not to enter Bithynia; 
and thirdly, these two stages being negative, telling them 
what not to do, needed the supplementary vision at 
Troas which clearly pointed out the way their duty lay. 
The crisis of this moment in the history of civilization 
and Christianity we have come to appreciate. We can- 
not conceive the history of either without Europe. Blot 
out the Europe of the past nineteen centuries, and civ- 
ilization reverts to barbarism and Christianity shrivels 
to superstition. It is true that both have done much 
for Europe, but still we must not forget that neither 
of these triumphant forces would be what it is to-day 
apart from the contributions of this continent. . So that, 
if ever a miracle is in order, the hour has come. And 
we may well believe that nothing less than a miracle 
would have sufficed. What! Leave Asia, the Cradle 
of the Race, the Land of Promise, the home of Moses, 
of David, and of Isaiah; the scene of the Saviour's life 
and sufferings, the place where so many victories had 
been won and so much more still remained to l>e ac- 
complished? Barnabas might lure Paul from his home 
town to a neighboring city, but it took a message from 
heaven itself to part him from Asia, the continent of 
the Holy Land; and yet this message from heaven is 
clothed in the language of earth; the divine demand 
comes in the garb of human need. God's greatest ap- 



Paul's First European Tour 59 

peals do not split the sky and ring in thunderous tones 
above our heads; they are borne to us in the lonely 
vigils of the night and in the still small voice of a 
brother's cry for help. And so the man of Macedon 
appears. Not the man of Macedon that Europe had 
known so long — the mailed warrior, proud victor of a 
hundred battles and greedy for more worlds to conquer; 
but the higher man of Macedon, the man calling for 
something to help him conquer himself, his sins and 
superstitions, and make of himself a victor in moral 
combat by whose side even Philip's son will stand 
eclipsed. 

The crisis for us of America and England lay in the 
attitude Paul would assume to this midnight message. 
The Christian civilization of countless centuries some- 
times hangs on the spiritual insight and loyal obedi- 
ence of a single heart. Do we think of this when in 
our coldness and selfishness we allow the call of China, 
of India, of Japan, and of the far-away islands of the 
sea to fall unheeded on our ears? how the burden 
of our prayer should be that the hearts of our leaders 
may receive strength and illumination from God him- 
self that they may see clearly and seize immediately 
the magnificent opportunities that constantly invite 
the Church to larger and more glorious conquests! 

The Capture of the Citadels 

It is not necessary for us to repeat in detail the thrill- 
ing story of the occupation of these European centers. 
We will have to content ourselves with a glance at the 
"great four" — Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and 
Corinth. The first of these, Philippi, was made a Ro- 
man colony in B.C. 42 by Octavian, afterwards the Em- 
peror Augustus. It was the foremost city of the prov- 
ince. Here it was that the missionaries found a stra- 
tegic point and at once began work. Two points strike 
us at once — namely, the Gospel and Woman and the 
Gospel and Civil Freedom. For these two things Euro- 



60 Life and Letters of Paul 

pean Christianity has ever stood — the emancipation of 
woman and the inculcation of civil liberty. We are 
not surprised, therefore, to see the prophecy of this 
emancipation come in two ways: positively in introduc- 
ing Lydia and her friends to the full privilege of the 
gospel and negatively in the rescue of the poor slave 
girl from the tyranny of her masters. It was the sequel 
to this latter that gave Paul the occasion to make an 
insistent and successful appeal for the maintenance of 
his civil rights, thus paving the way for the coming of 
our modern conception of Christian citizenship. 

The significance of the Thessalonian occupation lies 
in the fact that this was a great city and lay at the 
foot of Mount Olympus, the Holy Mountain of Greek 
mythology. Paul knew that if he could once get the 
lever of Christ's gospel under that mighty mass of sin 
and superstition he would be able to overthrow forever 
the greatest obstacle to human welfare and progress. 
Hence his zeal in spite of all sorts of persecution; hence 
his self-denial in working at his trade so as not to 
burden them with his support; hence his tenderness 
surpassing even that of a loving nurse toward her own 
children. And his labor was not in vain. When it be- 
came known that Thessalonica, the sacred city of hea- 
thenism had capitulated to Christ's ambassador, in every 
place the story of their conversion went forth, and 
they became an example to all that believed in Mace- 
donia and Achaia. 

From the foot of Mount Olympus to the heights of 
the Areopagus the gospel goes in conscious strength, 
and Paul finds himself in Athens, the city of culture 
and philosophy. His address there was about the great- 
est he ever delivered; his success about the smallest 
he ever achieved. But while his visit did not result in 
large additions to the Church, still it had a powerful 
influence on Paul himself. His comparative failure led 
him to look deeper into the essence of the gospel and 
discover and define for himself more sharply the mean- 



PauVs First European Tour 61 

ing of his message. This comes out when he came to 
Corinth. The sight of that sin-stricken city well-nigh 
staggered him, and he is ready to leave before he has 
fairly begun. But a vision cheers his heart. Though 
seemingly alone, Christ is with him; though seemingly 
weak, he has the mighty leverage of the cross; and so, 
buckling on the armor anew, he determines to know 
nothing save Christ as his crucified Lord and constant 
Companion. And so the campaign, beginning so gloom- 
ily, has a magnificent issue. In spite of an atmosphere 
reeking with moral putridity, the gospel lived in purity 
and power. His eighteen months' stay resulted in the 
building up of one of the most important Churches he 
ever organized. Possibly he would have tarried even 
longer had not the Jews stirred up strife. Gallio, the 
Roman Proconsul, was too wise to let him come to 
harm; and while Paul did not leave immediately, still 
the occurrence must have had some hastening effect on 
his departure. So he sets out for Syria, stopping long 
enough at Ephesus to give the Jews an audience and 
leave Aquila and Priscilla to instruct them further. 
Leaving with a provisional promise to return, deo 
volente, he soon lands at Csesarea, goes up to Jerusa- 
lem to salute the Church, and thence hies him back 
to Antioch to tell to the Mother Church of Foreign 
Missions the glorious news of the capture of the citadels 
of a new continent for Christ. 

The Beginnings of Christian Literature 

But great as was the joy of the brethren in Antioch 
and great as the planting of the gospel in Europe was, 
this journey has an even greater significance for us. 
The Churches Paul founded are for the most part 
buried. Athens sits in the ashes of her former glory, 
Thessalonica is just out of the hands of the horrid Turk, 
and Antioch herself is now missionary territory; but 
there still abide to guide and cheer the sons of men 
the simple letters he began to write about this time. 



62 Life and Letters of Paul 

The significance of Paul as the initiator of Christian 
correspondence is seen from the simple fact that over 
one-fourth of our New Testament is from his single 
pen, while he has directly or indirectly influenced near- 
ly the whole volume. Hence it is pertinent that we 
close our present study with a brief glance at this 
phase of Paul's history. Of course writing was with 
him a side issue. He used this method of communica- 
tion only when all others failed; the epistle simply 
takes the place of the apostle. This is the occasion for 
the first letter to the Thessalonians, and we may be- 
lieve the earliest writing we have in the New Testa- 
ment. Paul had left the city under bond, and he could 
not return without endangering his own safety and 
that of his friend Jason. He tried twice, but both times 
he says he was balked by Satan. The anxiety of his 
heart was so great that he could stand it no longer, 
and so he sent Timothy from Athens to see how the 
young Church was faring. When Timothy got back the 
news was so cheering that he really "lived again" for 
the joy that came to him in the statement that they 
were "standing fast in the Lord." In spite of the foot- 
note appended in the Authorized Version, we must hold 
that this letter was written from Corinth in the early 
part of his stay. In such a simple fashion began the 
New Testament — the mightiest manifestation of the 
mind of God and man the world has ever had. How 
significant that it begins on soil saved by missionary 
zeal! How truly just that Paul, the master missionary, 
should pen its opening chapter and have the high honor 
of being the first to inscribe in literature "the Name 
that is above every name"! 

1. What plan did Paul present to Barnabas for their 
next work, and how did it result? 

2. Whom did Paul take as a traveling companion, 
and who was added later to the company? 

3. What do we know in regard to Timotheus (Timo- 
thy)? (Look up all that is said of him.) 



Paul's First European Tour 63 

4. Why was Paul hindered from going into Asia, and 
how was he directed into Macedonia? 

5. To what city in that country did he go first, and to 
whom did he first speak? 

6. Tell the story of Lydia; of the possessed damsel; 
of the arrest and imprisonment; of the jailer; of the 
action of the magistrates. 

7. To what city did Paul go next, and to whom did 
he preach first there? 

8. What disturbance arose there, and how did the 
missionaries escape? 

9. What stirred the spirit of Paul in Athens, and 
what did the Athenians say of his preaching? 

10. Give an outline of Paul's sermon on Mars Hill. 

11. How was it received? 

12. What was the result of Paul's preaching to the 
Jews of Corinth, and to whom did he turn? 

13. What vision came to cheer Paul, and how long 
did he stay in that city? 

14. What violent effort was made by the Jews to drive 
him away, and with what result? 

15. How did Paul close his European missionary trip, 
and what were its results to Christianity? 

16. What was the occasion of Paul's first letter-writ- 
ing to the Churches? What influence has his epistle 
had upon the religious life of the Christian world? 



VII. EPHESUS— BEFORE AND AFTER 

Scripture Material. — Acts xviii. 23-xx. 38. Read the 
Epistle to the Ephesians. 

Introduction. — Paul's third missionary journey is most 
important from many standpoints. In the first place, 
in it he takes occasion to revisit the Galatian Churches, 
and evidently this gives him opportunity to clinch his 
convictions with regard to the relation of the law and 
the gospel; again, it is on this journey that he finally 
achieves a long-cherished desire to visit Ephesus, the 
great metropolis of Asia Minor. This brings him in 
contact with all the currents of life flowing between 
the Occident and the Orient and enables him to test 
the new faith of Christianity by the old superstitions 
of that land of dreamy speculations. Again, his long stay 
in that city gives Paul a chance to develop even to a 
greater degree than his first residence in Corinth did 
the pastoral knack as well as giving him a splendid 
opportunity for establishing a missionary base for an 
ever-enlarging evangelization scheme. The uproar at 
Ephesus gives us a fine glance into municipal conditions 
in that distant day as well as affording opportunity for 
Luke to display most successfully his fine powers of 
character-sketching. It would be well to look up in 
some dictionary of the Bible or of antiquities and read 
the article under the head of "Diana" and also make 
a study of the temple erected to that goddess in Ephe- 
sus. The Ephesian residence is also noteworthy in that 
while here in this great city to the east Paul has a 
renewed sense of the importance of reaching Rome 
away to the w T est and registers in Acts xix. 21 with 
peculiar emphasis his long-cherished hope to see the 
capital city. Another fact that makes this journey for- 
ever memorable is that during it Paul wrote 1 and 2 
(64) 



Ephesus — Before and After 65 

Corinthians and Romans and, according to some, Gala- 
tians. In all probability, however, this last letter was 
antecedent to the third journey. 

Our study naturally falls into three sections: (1) 
Paul's Movements before Reaching Ephesus, (2) Events 
at Ephesus, (3) Subsequent Developments. 

Paul's Movements from Antioch to Ephesus 

Westward the star of Christianity takes its way for 
the third time under the guiding hand of the Spirit-led 
Paul. His first work is to go "through the region of 
Galatia and Phrygia establishing the churches." Note 
the spirit of the apostle. These people were, for the 
most part, not people in great centers of population, 
but had their residence presumably scattered over a 
large province, or rather parts of two provinces. Still, 
though Paul is hurrying on to a long-hoped-for haven — 
Ephesus — he does not leave these isolated Churches to 
be preyed upon by greedy, selfish wolves, but makes an 
honest and faithful effort to anchor them securely in 
the faith of Christ. Those who have read his flaming 
letter to the Galatians know full well the secret of his 
mighty passion for their welfare. The love that these 
simple, ardent souls had shown for Paul was beautiful 
to contemplate. Though at his first visit he had come 
to them with the disadvantage of a bodily ailment that 
was in itself a temptation to them to loathe his pres- 
ence, still they did nothing of the kind; on the other 
hand, he commends them for their ready reception of 
both himself and his message. "I bear you witness 
that you would have dug out your eyes for me." No 
wonder he loved to revisit such people and leave with 
them every strengthening influence he could. 

The section in Acts xviii. 24-28 seems to be inserted 
by Luke to explain the origin of the band of disciples 
referred to later in Acts xix. 1. As it is here said that 
Apollos had quite a lengthy stay in Ephesus and worked 
with much zeal and earnestness, it is natural to infer 
5 



G6 Life and Letters of Paul 

that this paragraph has some bearing on the next point. 
At any rate, it is well to pause for a moment for one or 
two comments. In Acts xviii. 3 we saw that Paul in all 
probability by personal work gained the conversion of 
Aquila and Priscilla. Here these two true yokefellows 
carry on the good work of their father in the faith. 
They, simple believers that they are, are able to take 
the eloquent Apollos to their humble home and instruct 
him in the deep things of God. And more wonderful 
still, he is willing to go. Thus equipped, he fares on 
his way with letters of commendation and is soon seen 
doing valiant service for Christ in Corinth. 

Events at Ephesus 

The "Almost" Christians. — The first thing Paul found 
at Ephesus was a band of brethren. Evidently, as a 
Christian, his first act when he got to the great city 
was to look up some of the people he had conversed 
with on his former visit as recorded in Acts xviii. 19. 
The intercourse naturally led along religious lines, and 
Paul was soon probing them with questions as to their 
spiritual condition. Is this the reason "talking re- 
ligion" has fallen so fully out of our curriculum of con- 
versation? We fear that it will disclose an unfortunate 
lack in us, doubtless. At any rate, Paul puts the soul- 
searching question: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit ?" 
This is the mark of a true Christian. This indeed is 
what makes him a Christian. He believes in the Spirit; 
he is regenerated by the Spirit; and he has the witness 
of the Spirit. Consequently where there is no Spirit 
there is no Christian of the true type. These people 
had to confess this; the rest was easy. They were 
baptized in the name of Jesus; Paul's hands fell in 
blessing on their heads; and a full dozen temples opened 
their doors for the incoming of the blessed Paraclete. 

Paul's Preaching. — It is not necessary for us to ex- 
pand much here. Paul went straight to the synagogue 
-^-doubtless the same one he had visited on his former 



Epliesus — Before and After 67 

trip — and used this as a preaching place for three 
months. His speech was characterized by such bold- 
ness — doubtless due to his special emphasis on the 
Spirit's work — that none that heard could remain in- 
different. Many were persuaded, but some were hard- 
ened. These latter blasphemed the "Way before the 
multitude and soon wrought such mischief that Paul 
was forced to change his base of operations and flee 
for peace to a schoolhouse run by a man — the only 
school teacher in the New Testament, by the way — 
whose name was Tyrant! But anything was better 
than a Jewish synagogue seething with spleen and 
malice. So here he preaches for two years, and a great 
work is done, not only locally, but numerous evangel- 
istic tours are taken into the surrounding country, so 
that "all that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the 
Lord." Special miracles were done by Paul, and it is 
characteristic that here in Ephesus an attempt was 
made to counterfeit the apostle's deeds of benevolence. 
The attempt was not successful, however, and hence 
was short-lived. The ridiculous plight into which the 
stupid impertinence of Sceva's seven sons got them soon 
put a quietus on all would-be imitators, and fear fell 
upon all. But more than fear came. There came a 
spirit of deep contrition, which manifested itself in 
the voluntary confession of sinful acts and in the sacri- 
fice of the things by which they had formerly practiced 
their black arts. The burning of the books was the 
final proof that another fire was blazing in their hearts 
— the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit consuming sin 
and selfishness and superstition — a great light had 
shone in their formerly darkened hearts, and so they 
could well dispense with the rushes and tapers of their 
past lives. The expulsive power of a new affection 
drove from them all desire for their former evil line 
of conduct, and henceforth all things became new. 
They gave up the books of sin^ but listen, Christians, 
and learn the lesson well: they gave up their old tomes 



68 Life and Letters of Paul 

that told of human error and got in return what? Did 
you ever think of it? Why, in course of time, these 
people got Paul's letter to the Ephesians, which has 
been called the "grandest book in existence," "the 
epistle of the heavenlies"; they got a little later the 
book of Revelation, the vision of the seer of Patmos 
Isle; they got a little later John's Gospel, "God's love 
letter to the world"; and they got still later John's 
First Epistle, the most lovely gem that sparkles in the 
casket of our New Testament canon. Hast thou ever 
given up anything for God? Then I am telling thee 
no news when I say thou hast got far more from God. 

Paul's Plans. — The great success at this city and the 
evident anchoring of the work in adjacent territory em- 
boldened Paul to leave for a time to go over to Greece, 
especially to Corinth, where trouble had long been 
brewing, and he felt that he must be on the spot, if he 
was to save his converts there from strife and party 
quarrels. He himself is on trial there, and something 
— possibly some hint dropped by a passing traveler or 
some note received from them — suggests that he still 
stay in Asia. So he sends Timothy and Erastus into 
Macedonia, and he abides. 

PauVs Persecution. — "No small stir" is rather a faint 
description of the confusion and contention and high- 
flown oratory and dust and howling and riot of the 
latter half of Luke's nineteenth chapter. What a study 
in mob psychology we have here! Demetrius, head of 
the guild of shrine makers, makes a speech of telling 
effect to his fellow craftsmen. He knows their tender 
spot and aims for it with a master's skill. They fall 
before the logic of a full dinner pail; and, mistaking 
their own love of gain for religious devotion, they fall 
to howling their sacred slogan, "Great is Diana," fill 
the city with confusion, and hale Paul's companions in 
travel off to the theater. Paul, true man that he was, 
hastens to follow his friends; but the restraining cau- 
tion of others compels him to forego martyrdom at 



Ephesus — Before and After 69 

this time. His friends, the Asiarchs, know too well his 
worth to the world to let him be trodden under foot of 
these wild beasts in human form. The town clerk 
comes upon the scene. In him the crowd beholds the 
majesty of the law and the possibility of spending a few 
days in durance vile. So they hush their tumult and 
hear his words. His speech is a marvel of terseness 
and strength. "Don't be disturbed about Diana; she 
is all-powerful. Ephesus is her guardian city: she will 
care for us. Be quiet. Do nothing rash. The men you 
pursue are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers 
of our goddess. Don't mix up with Demetrius's trouble. 
If he has a complaint, the courts are open. This is a 
city, not a pandemonium. If you have any questions, 
the regular assembly is the place to settle them; and, 
as a clincher, I'll remind you that we are in danger of 
being called to account for the senseless performance of 
this day." Such was the logic of law, and the mob 
was mute and slunk off in silence. 

Subsequent Developments 

Paul hies himself off after the uproar and is soon 
found ini Macedonia, where Titus meets him with 
news from Corinth, and he at once sends him back 
again with 2 Corinthians. Read the first two chapters 
of this letter in order to get Paul's state of soul at 
this time. From Upper Greece he soon drops down to 
Lower Greece, and we next see him spending three 
months in Corinth. It is at this time that Romans is 
written. Read Romans xv. 22-29, and you will get a 
glimpse of Paul's mental and spiritual condition at the 
time of writing. A plot detours him round through 
Macedonia again, and thence he sails to Asia. At 
Philippi Luke is picked up, and a stay of five days is 
made at Troas. At Mitylene a stog is made and Paul's 
memorable address to the Ephesian elders is delivered, 
wherein the true pastor's heart is revealed as nowhere 
else in literature, a prayer to God for safe-keeping and 



70 Life and Letters of Paul 

guidance is sent up from those shining sands, words of 
final farewell are spoken, tears of sorrow are shed, lov- 
ing embraces are exchanged, and Paul leaves his tear- 
stained fellow-Christians on Asia's strand and sets his 
face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, not knowing what 
may await him there. 



VIII. PAUL'S LAST JOURNEY TO 
JERUSALEM 

Scripture Material. — For the journey, Acts xxi. 1-36; 
for Agabus, Acts xi. 28; for Philip, Acts vi. 5, viii. 5-40. 

Time. — The year is in doubt. All the years from 
53 to 59 have been assigned by various authorities. 
Ramsay says that in A.D. 57 Passover fell on Thursday, 
April 7, and that this is the only year that agrees with 
Luke's statistics. However doubtful the specific year, 
the relative sequence of events is fairly clear because 
of Luke's method of dating the whole series of facts. 
He begins with the Passover referred to in Acts xx. 6 
and from this point of time gives the course of the 
history by weeks, marking each Sunday's service from 
Easter to Pentecost. For the terminus a quo we go 
back to Philippi, where Luke rejoins Paul. From now 
on to the end of the book of Acts he is an eyewitness 
of all he describes, and, at the same time, the very 
incidents of this journey connect him with people — 
notably Philip, James, and Agabus — who put him in 
direct contact with the early history of the Church in 
Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. So we must not lose 
sight of the fact that this journey is as important for 
Luke in gathering his materials for his history as it 
is for Paul in accomplishing his mission. 

Places. — Any good map of Paul's missionary jour- 
neys can be consulted with profit. Note the famous 
places listed, and look up especially those which figure 
in the earlier chapters of Acts — i. e., Phoenicia and Caesa- 
rea. 

Introduction. — This is Paul's last visit to Jerusalem, 
the fifth after his conversion. Acts ix. 26 gives the ac- 
count of his first visit as a Christian, and a sad scene 
it is, when the brethren have their suspicions of his 

(71) 



72 Life and Letters of Paul 

honesty and Barnabas has to step in and save the day. 
In xi. 30 we have the second visit to the capital. He 
is again in the company of Barnabas, and they are en- 
gaged in the good work of carrying up to the Christians 
in Jerusalem the contribution of the Church at Antioch 
for the famine sufferers. The fifteenth chapter tells 
us of Paul's presence at the council, making his third 
visit. In xviii. 22 we have in the sentence, "When he 
had gone up and saluted the Church," all we know 
about the fourth trip to Jerusalem; and now we are to 
study the fifth and last. Details are surely not lacking 
here. Our only embarrassment arises from determining 
what principle of selection we are to adopt. We cannot 
help feeling that as Luke has given us in his Gospel a 
most vivid picture of the last visit of Jesus to Jerusa- 
lem, so he is here writing with this in mind. Not that 
he is fabricating; by no means. He is simply recogniz- 
ing that, as is the Lord, so shall the servant be. Many 
points of similarity occur as we read the last journey 
of Paul and compare it with that last journey made by 
the Master. The great apostle is surely following Christ 
in his steadfastness of purpose, in his resistance of 
every temptation to swerve from the path of duty, and 
finally in enduring the fierce persecution that breaks 
upon his head as he faces the pent-up rage of the rab- 
ble of his race — his own people to whom he came, but 
who received him not. 

We shall consider the following points: (1) The Jour- 
ney Itself, (2) Warnings by the Way, (3) The Proposal 
of James. 

The Journey Itself 

We need not dwell long here, as the passage was made 
by a series of straight courses, and there were not many 
incidents worthy of emphasis. Luke is aboard the ship 
as it sails away from Miletus, where our last study left 
Paul, and thence they hurry due south to Cos, an island 
just off the southwest coast of Asia Minor; thence south- 



Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem 73 

east they go to Rhodes, another island, somewhat 
larger; thence the course was nearly east to a point on 
the mainland, Patara. Here they hit upon a vessel 
bound for Phoenicia, and on it they sail for full four 
hundred miles southeast to Tyre. Here the gospel had 
gone in the early days when the Hellenists had pre- 
empted Phoenicia (Acts xi. 19), and Paul himself had 
passed through the country on his memorable trip to 
the council (Acts xv. 3). This means, of course, that 
he had a number of friends there; and as the ship was 
accustomed to unload at this point, he availed himself 
of the opportunity thus presented to "hunt them up" 
and enjoy a few days of Christian fellowship. A week 
sped by rapidly, and at its close a solemn service was 
held on the seashore, where men and women and chil- 
dren united in bidding their brave and faithful father 
Godspeed on his way. Then a day was spent at Ptole- 
mais, and on the next they come to Csesarea; here they 
are nearly at their journey's end, for Csesarea was the 
seaport of the capital. Here also they find friends. 
Philip the Evangelist, his four daughters, and doubt- 
less many more greet the Christian pilgrims with words 
of cheer and sympathy as they wend their way to the 
city of the Great King. Doubtless they join in singing 
some of the old-time pilgrim songs — dubiously called 
"Songs of Degrees" in our English Psalter — those heart- 
stirring lyrics that had for so many centuries thrilled 
the Jewish people as they came up from all over Pales- 
tine to the great feasts and for a moment forgot their 
petty tribal jealousies and, under the inspiration of 
their national hopes, flung themselves with all the 
abandon of their ardent souls into the mighty current 
of their heavenly high calling. Possibly this was one 
of the songs that these pilgrims sang: 

"I was glad when they said unto me, 
Let us go to the house of the Lord." 



74 



Life and Letters of Paul 



And then as memory of former journeys looms up 
out of the past, the danger and toil of the intervening 
desert fail to affright, and the vow is registered: 

"Our feet shall stand within thy gates, Jerusalem, 
Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord!" 

What, again, must have been the pathos with which 
this psalm was concluded as Paul and his companions 
and advisers, feeling the pressure of a danger they 
knew not how to describe, united in saying: 

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem? 
They shall prosper that love thee. 
Peace be within thy walls, 
Prosperity within thy palaces. 
For my brethren and companions' sakes, 
I will now say, Peace be within thee." 

Warnings "by the Way 

The first danger signal was hoisted at Tyre. The 
brethren there, knowing the temper of the Jews at 
Jerusalem, implored Paul not to go up. Nor was this 
a dictate of mere human fear or prudence. The warn- 
ing was all the more solemn because it was given 
"through the Spirit." But Paul had by this time got 
to a stage of development when he believed that if the 
Lord wanted to tell him anything he would employ a 
direct method and not an indirect one. Paul prayed 
for no proxy; he listened for no vicarious voice. He 
had been obeying God too long now for God to mistrust 
him. So the terror of the Tyrian Christians affects him 
not; and when the day comes for the ship to sail Paul 
steps aboard with the tread of one who has triumphed 
over temptations, subtle and strong. 

At Caesarea the situation, of course, is more acute. 
It may be that Philip's daughters started the gruesome 
visions. But Paul had recently penned some words like 
these: "Let the women keep silent in the churches; 



Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem 75 

. . . for it is a shame for a woman to speak in 
church." Little heed would Paul give to Philip's quar- 
tet. But Agabus was another proposition. He was a 
man, and a man whose prophecy was based on per- 
sonal experience; for he had just come down from 
Judea and bore in the pallor of his face and in the 
tremor of his frame sure and unmistakable witness to 
the hateful rage of the apostle's foes. Moreover, once 
before this prophet had crossed Paul's path with a 
warning, and Paul knew that this former message had 
proved true, for he had seen with his own eyes the 
ravages that the famine had wrought in Judea and 
had with his own hands tried to mollify its horrid 
devastation. Consequently, as Agabus takes the role 
of a Jeremiah and seizes Paul's girdle and binds his 
own feet and hands, all hearts are moved with fears 
and all eyes are filled with tears before ever a word 
is spoken. When the moving picture is interpreted 
and the words of doleful prophecy fall, "So shall the 
Jews in Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle 
and deliver him to Gentile hands," the citizens of Caesa- 
rea and the companions of Paul, including his faithful 
friend and physician Luke himself, with one accord 
and with many tears beseech him not to go up to Jeru- 
salem. Paul's answer to this temptation is the climax 
of devoted consecration. He is ready to suffer not only 
all that they prophesy will happen to him, but also all 
that they can imagine. Death itself will be doubly 
dear if it finds him in the path of duty to his Lord. 
The name of Jesus is his panoply — this has calmed 
every fear and cast out every foe. And so the scene at 
Caesarea closes, as did the scene in Gethsemane, in vic- 
tory — "Not my will, but thine, be done." 

The Proposal of James 

Paul is now in Jerusalem, and no wonder his band 
of followers has increased. No wonder that some of 
the saints from Caesarea accompanied him. The breth- 



76 Life and Letters of Paul 

ren at Jerusalem received the party gladly, and on the 
next day the leaders "got together" to talk over the 
situation. We do not need Luke to tell us that the 
main theme of conversation was what God had done 
among the Gentiles through Paul's ministry; nor are 
we surprised that there was a sympathetic response on 
the part of the listeners and that at the conclusion of 
his thrilling story they glorified God. Nor, again, are 
we surprised at the turn affairs now took. The city 
was full of Jews from all parts of Palestine, and many 
were there from even more distant places. They had 
all, more or less clearly, heard of the new movement 
headed especially by Paul; and now James, the head of 
the Jerusalem Church, had a vision of what might be 
done with his fellow countrymen in bringing them to a 
knowledge of the truth as it was in Jesus. So his 
proposal is perfectly in line with his catholic attitude 
in the council and all we can gather from a study of 
his character. He knew he was making a suggestion 
that would meet with Paul's approval — for that truly 
broad man was willing to be all things to all men if 
so be that he might save some, even in Jerusalem. So 
the plan is agreed upon. Paul is to show that he too, 
just like Stephen, has been falsely accused, and so he 
agrees to defray the expenses of four poor Christians 
in meeting the requirements for ridding themselves of 
a Naziritic vow, especially as he at the time happens 
to be under one himself. No principle is at stake, no 
conscientious scruple is violated, and all goes well until 
the seventh day, when some Jews from Asia, seeing 
Paul in the temple and mistaking his companion for 
Trophimus an Ephesian, raise the cry that he is pollut- 
ing the holy place by allowing a heathen to enter it. 
The whole city is at once in the grip of a mob, and 
soon the streets of Jerusalem, the city of God, are to 
seethe with a surging rabble, who, in their mad frenzy 
and wild fanaticism, are to outdo even the devotees of 
Diana in far-away heathen Ephesus. 



Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem 11 

1. How many visits did Paul make to Jerusalem? Tell 
the purpose of each. 

2. In what way are the features of this last trip like 
Christ's last visit to Jerusalem? 

3. Narrate the incidents of Paul's journey. 

4. What warnings did he receive by the way? Why 
did he not heed them? 

5. What proposal did James make? Did his sugges- 
tion meet with Paul's approval? 

6. Was any principle compromised by this effort to 
conciliate the bigoted Jews? 

7. How was his act misrepresented, and what was the 
result? 



IX. HUMAN VIOLENCE AND DIVINE 

VISION 

Scripture Material. — Acts xxi. 37-xxiii. 11. 

Introduction. — Our section for this study begins in 
the stress and strain of mob violence in the streets 
of Jerusalem; it ends in the peace and calm that always 
comes from companionship with Christ. One cannot 
keep from noting the parallel between this section of 
Paul's life and the corresponding period in the life of 
our Lord. We have only to refer to the action of the 
crowd, the two trials (civil and religious), the bear- 
ing of the two prisoners, and the general outcome of 
the whole proceeding to be struck with the fact that 
Paul is tracking most closely in the footprints of his 
Master. It would be well for each student to read the 
different accounts of the trial of Jesus, especially as 
recorded in the Third Gospel; it would also be well 
to look up some authorities on Roman processes of law 
and also refresh the memory on the rights and privileges 
of Roman citizenship. Refer to the scene at Philippi 
(Acts xvi. 36-40), which gives the account of Paul's 
first use of his civic rights. Contrast the two occasions. 
Why did Paul allow himself to be beaten in the one 
case before he protested, while in the second he estops 
his arresters from so doing? 

We shall use the following outline (1) The Apostle's 
Apologia, (2) The Frenzy of Fanaticism, (3) The Cre- 
dentials of a Citizen, (4) The Schism in the Sanhedrin, 
(5) The Comforting Christ. 

The Apostle's Apologia 

Our last study closed with Paul in the hands of the 
furious mob in the area surrounding the temple. They 
ha<J dragged him out, and the doors had been shut hard 
(78) 



Human Violence and Divine Vision 79 

and fast, so that no further pollution might be possible. 
The rage of the rabble was such that they had no 
thought of waiting for a regular trial before a bar of 
even the rude justice that Jerusalem on such occasions 
was wont to administer, but with bloodthirsty spirit 
they had determined to make short shrift and kill him 
at once and on the spot. But the chiliarch got wind 
of what was going on and running down at full speed, 
backed by soldiers and centurions, soon deterred them 
from their purpose. He at once took Paul in custody 
and put to him the usual questions with regard to his 
identity and his crime. Other and variant voices re- 
sponded, and the poor chiliarch was in such a hubbub 
that it was impossible for him to hear his ears, and so 
he commanded that the prisoner be carried into the 
castle, where the inquiry might be had without inter- 
ruption. The crowd, however, would not stand for this; 
they were not so easily outwitted. They made a rush 
like the surge of the sea, so that the very stone stair- 
way was in danger of destruction, as they assaulted it 
with the yell of fury: ''Away with him!" The scene 
was one of wild tumult. Luke was there in the audi- 
ence. One snapshot picture indelibly impressed itself 
on his vision. Paul had to be hoisted over the heads 
of the soldiers and carried like a log of wood to keep 
from being mangled in the crush. This kodak view is 
as graphic and as undignified (from the standpoint of 
the Oriental) as the one Paul himself gives us of his 
previous escape from Damascus. But when the life of 
an apostle is at stake we cannot be sticklers for dig- 
nity. Here, at least, a soldier's muscles or a hole in the 
wall is a special providence. 

How perfectly calm is Paul himself through all this 
turmoil! He reminds us of Wesley in the famous 
scene at Wednesbury. As the apostle looked out upon 
that sea of faces, all distorted with rage as they were, 
he had to recognize the features of his own race. Yes, 
these were God's chosen people. In spite of their hate 



80 Life and Letters of Paul 

for him, he had a burning love for them. Could he 
submit to being carried into the castle simply to be 
withdrawn to a place of safety? Those of us who have 
read the ninth chapter of Romans know what the an- 
swer to this question is. He therefore asks permission 
to speak to the chief captain. At once the surprises 
begin. Up to this time this officer had been congratu- 
lating himself that he had captured a notorious brigand 
— an Egyptian, a leader of a band of assassins — and 
was doubtless indulging in fond fancies over the fine 
time he was going to have over the reward for his 
prowess. Hearing Paul speak in Greek, however, dis- 
pelled all this fine dream. And then the surprise grows 
apace. He learns that he is dealing with a Jew of 
Tarsus, a man who is proud of the city of his birth, 
and one who is eager to make an address to the howling 
mob that is pursuing him to his death. Lysias allows 
him license, and with a characteristic wave of the 
hand Paul begins his splendid defense from the stair- 
way of Antonia. 

Three divisions are clear in this sermon, as in many 
others. The apostle at once claims attention by his use 
of the Aramaic vernacular and immediately plunges 
into a sketch of his life as a Jew, born in Tarsus, edu- 
cated in Jerusalem, schooled by Gamaliel, instructed in 
the law, zealous for God, persecuting the Christians. 
He closes this section by appealing to the testimony 
of living witnesses and the records of the courts of 
the city. 

The second paragraph describes his sudden and celes- 
tial conversion; details the part that Ananias, a de- 
vout man well thought of by the Jews, took in it; and 
closes with a commission received from this accredited 
brother to the effect that he is to be a witness to all the 
world. 

The third section of the Apostle's Apologia, like the 
first, has its scene in Jerusalem— yea, in the very temple 



Human Violence and Divine Vision 81 

itself. For it was in that very sacred precinct itself, 
says Paul, that he had a vision from Christ that gave 

him his commission. He had no desire to leave his 

Jewish brethren; but the dynamic of a divine command 

shot him forth, far hence to the Gentiles. It was the 

last word that raised the tumult. Had Paul had no 

mission to the Gentiles, certainly we should never 

have heard of 

The Frenzy of Fanaticism 

that manifested itself on this occasion; in fact, we may 
well doubt whether we should ever have heard of Paul 
himself. This word, then, was the torch that lit up 
the fires of their rage that for a time, under the mar- 
velous spell of the speaker's romantic and thrilling 
story, had lain smoldering. But how it flashed into 
flame now! With a howl of mingled disgust and rage, 
"Away with such a renegade; it is not fit for him to 
live!" they threw off their garments and flung the dust 
of the streets into the air, and by all the tokens of their 
opulent Oriental symbolism they had their fill of frenzy. 
Surely here was a zeal for God; but how untempered 
with knowledge! The scene was no unusual one for 
Jerusalem. It had been enacted time and time before; 
it was to be seen again and again in the future when 
this people, aroused by the sense of their helplessness 
under the rule of their foreign foes, were to go the full 
gamut of religious fanaticism and in self-immolating 
abandon toss their lives like playthings into the jaws 
of all-devouring war and pestilence rather than yield 
one iota from the traditions of their fathers. No won- 
der Paul, though called of Providence, commissioned 
by Ananias, and commanded by Christ to go to the 
Gentiles, lingered in loving hope that this people so 
greedy for God would yet come into the Messianic king- 
dom and become, as a race, the master missionaries of 
all history. 
6 



82 Life and Letters of Paul 

The Credentials of a Citizen 

More was yet to pay, however. As the chief captain 
had been unable to gather the straight of things in the 
confusion of the crowd, he ordered that the prisoner 
be put to the "question," or, as we understand it, be 
examined by scourging. They had already gone so far 
as to tie Paul with thongs; but a halt was suddenly 
called by his asking calmly: "Is it lawful to scourge a 
Roman?" This unlooked-for query brought the captain 
himself to Paul, and then we have a scene inimitable 
for its droll humor. The eager and anxious question 
of Lysias, the short but courteous and sufficient reply 
of Paul, the indirect interrogation and confession of 
the captain; and the straightforward and patriotic re- 
sponse of the apostle, followed by the hasty departure 
of his would-be scourgers and the consternation of the 
chief captain himself — these all are touches that tell 
us a master hand is drawing the picture. It is interest- 
ing to note how Luke seems to weave in all the evidence 
he can to show that the attitude of the Roman govern- 
ment was not hostile to Christianity in itself. Whenever 
and wherever in his history Paul comes in contact with 
the officials of the empire it is noticeable that they 
treat him and his cause with the greatest respect as 
soon as his identity is discovered and his business in 
the world declared. Possibly the reason for this em- 
phasis of Rome's friendly attitude is seen in the theory 
that at the time of the writing of Acts there had come 
about a change of policy; and this is the historian's 
way of appealing from Rome drunk with the blood of 
martyrs to Rome in her sober senses of a few decades 
before. 

The Schism in the Sanhedrin 

It is not necessary for us to dwell long in the midst 
of this turbulent assembly. We can to some extent 
excuse the rabble when we discover what leaders they 
had. It is only meet, however, that we should note 



Human Violence and Divine Vision 83 

the tact of Paul in turning the tide of discussion from 
himself to another point. This set the council at log- 
gerheads, and in the melee the apostle is delivered by 
the hands of the soldiers. We must not forget in read- 
ing this section that Paul is here in the Sanhedrin; 
and as in the days of yore when he was a member he 
took sides and indulged in all the tactics known to that 
body, so here he seems to be living over the scenes of 
the long ago, and even uses the language and the logic 
of his early training. This suggestion will explain to 
some extent his tricking the Sadducees and his savage 
thrust at the presiding officer. 

Paul was no neutral character. A strong personality 
like his always divided assemblies. And when he had 
thrown the apple of discord — a theological conundrum 
— into the midst, the rest was comparatively easy. At 
the use of the word "brethren," which he directed to- 
ward the Pharisees, a number of this section at once 
came to his help. They stood up to give their verdict 
of acquittal. "We find no fault in him." Then they 
used as an argument the very thing in dispute-— the ex- 
istence of spirits — to settle the matter. Wordy harangues 
are heard on both sides; finally voices give way to 
violence, and in the tumult that follows Paul is well- 
nigh torn to pieces. But the strong arm of law does 
what the logic of the schools fails to accomplish — it 
settles the fate of Paul, even if Lysias is still in doubt 
as to what it's all about. 

This is the last glimpse the New Testament gives us 
of the Supreme Court of the Jewish people, and the 
sight is not pleasing, but at the same time one cannot 
say that we have any right to expect anything else from 
the record it has previously made. Five times it is 
called upon in the development of the new dispensation 
to sit upon the claims of the kingdom of God. Luke 
gives us a pentad of performances that throw no great 
glory on this august assembly. In his Gospel (Luke 
xxii. 66-71) he records the treatment it meted out to 



84 Life and Letters of Paul 

our Lord; in Acts iv. 5-22 he gives us the trial of Peter 
and John; in Acts v. 21-40 we see them beating the 
whole band of the apostles and forbidding them to 
preach in the name of Jesus; in Acts vi. 12-vii. 58 
Stephen is before them, and we read their verdict in 
the dull thud of stones and the livid hues of a martyr's 
blood. What need of further witness to tell us what 
the outcome will be when now it is no longer a Galilean 
upstart or a pair of unlearned fishermen or a band of 
country peasants or a Hellenist of ever so eloquent a 
tongue that is before them, but one of their own — a 
former member, a man of rank and influence? This 
is too much; a renegade so outrageous must not be 
turned over to alien hands — their own fingers will 
clutch his throat; their own hands will be bathed in 
his unholy blood. But Lysias is on the lookout, and 
Paul is soon sheltered from the Sanhedrin in the 
strong Castle of Antonia. 

The Comforting Christ 

Lysias, however, is not the only friend Paul has. 
His Lord is with him in the night that followed these 
two days of strife and turbulence. The prison walls 
may keep his foes out, but they cannot forbid the en- 
trance of this Friend. And with his entrance there 
came first of all encouragement for the present. The 
bodily violence he had suffered, the mental depression 
that had been his because of the obdurate hate of his 
fellow countrymen, and the spiritual agony he had been 
forced to endure — all this had left the apostle, brave 
as he was, on the verge of despair. How uplifting to 
hear at such a time that word which in the New Testa- 
ment comes so often from the lips of our Lord: "Be of 
good cheer!" The word the paralytic borne of four 
heard, the word the woman who touched his garment 
hem heard, the word the disciples about to be engulfed 
by the waves heard, the word blind Bartimseus heard, 
the word that fell into the ears of the twelve when 



Human Violence and Divine Vision 85 

Jesus stood in their presence just before his agony and 
crucifixion and said, "Be of good cheer, I have over- 
come" — this was the inspiring word that Paul heard 
that night as it echoed with a heavenly melody through- 
out the corridors of the Castle of Antonia. But it 
brought a message of approbation for the past as well 
as cheer for the present. All questionings, if any there 
were, were settled by this voice, far more assuring than 
the voice of even an apostle's conscience. "Thou hast 
borne a good witness to the people and to the San- 
hedrin." The message of this strengthening vision in- 
cluded the future also, and this was the dark place 
Paul wanted lighted up. In the fifteenth chapter of 
Romans he is still in doubt whether he will ever have 
the joy of seeing the Eternal City. But now, after he 
has been true to his Lord in the city of God, he has 
given to him the divine assurance that he will in time 
look upon the city of the Caesars, and in the very palace 
of the greatest empire of earth he will behold springing 
up in full fruition the seeds of the kingdom of heaven. 

1. Detail Paul's experience with the Jerusalem mob. 

2. Analyze Paul's address delivered to them. 

3. What was the point that roused their fury to its 
height? 

4. Give the captain's proposal, Paul's protest, and in- 
dicate the sequel. 

5. State the next step in the process and show how 
the conflict between Paul and the- high priest came 
about. 

6. Give the nature of Paul's appeal by which he split 
the Sanhedrin. 

7. What was the result, and how was the apostle saved 
a second time from the Jews? 

8. What comfort did Paul get from his prison experi- 
ence at this time? 



X. A CAPTIVE IN CiESAREA 

Scripture Material. — Acts xxiii. 12-xxvi. 32. 

Places. — Jerusalem and Csesarea. This latter city 
was the Roman capital of Palestine, situated on the sea- 
coast, about sixty-two miles from Jerusalem. Anti- 
patris, the halting place between, was about thirty-five 
miles distant from Jerusalem. 

Points of Interest. — Study as far as you can the im- 
portance of this Csesarean captivity, not only from the 
standpoint of Paul himself, but also from the standpoint 
of Luke, who was certainly with him. What oppor- 
tunities did this residence in Palestine afford him for 
gathering materials for the construction of his Gospel 
and the book of Acts? By reference to the people he 
met, one can easily see how he came in contact with 
some of the principal actors in both the history of our 
Lord's ministry and that of the early Church. A sec- 
ond point to look up is the matter of the right of ap- 
peal on the part of a Roman citizen. What did it mean, 
and how was it exercised? 

Introduction. — Again we are embarrassed by the 
wealth of our material for study. Luke was a most in- 
terested attendant upon Paul during all this momen- 
tous period, and we do not have to think twice in seek- 
ing a reason for his unusual fullness of details. The 
narration of this succession of events has a distinct 
bearing upon his motive in writing the story of the 
spread of early Christianity; again, this was the most 
interesting time for him in the gathering of material 
both for his Gospel and his Acts; and aside from all 
professional interest, the character of Paul becomes 
more and more attractive and heroic as he deports him- 
self so nobly under the trying circumstances that at- 
tend this period of his life. We cannot be far wrong 
(86) 



A Captive in Cwsarea 87 

in believing that the stay at Caesarea meant volumes 
to both the historian and his hero as well as to later 
ages. 

In our present study let us consider in detail the fol- 
lowing points: (1) A Plot Unearthed, (2) The Initial 
Indictment, (3) A Triple Defense. 

A Plot Unearthed 

And what an unearthly plot it was! More than forty 
men binding themselves by an awful oath not to eat 
bread or to drink water until they had put a fellow 
Jew to death! We at this time of "liberal religion" 
can hardly appreciate the motive or the madness of 
these devoted zealots. But they sincerely believed their 
temple had been polluted, their God had been defied, 
their nation had been outraged. Nothing but blood 
could erase the stain that had been cast upon their 
national honor. They were willing to go and go gladly 
to the extreme of death in its most hideous form in 
order to expiate the crime that had been committed. 
The blood of Paul must pay the penalty. So much for 
the wrath of man; the praise of God is seen in the won- 
derful providence by which this pernicious plot was 
discovered and escaped. Paul's nephew in some way, 
unknown save to Him whose watchful eye sees even 
the sparrow fall, was the instrument in delivering the 
apostle from the hateful rage of his enemies. The wily 
scheme of this association of assassins is matched only 
by the calm courage of the great apostle. With hardly 
a tremor in his voice he sends his informant direct 
to the chief captain, assured in his own heart that 
God will in his own way care for all the rest. Paul 
had by this time learned to cast all his care upon One 
who was able to carry it. As soon as Paul's sister's 
son has an audience with Lysias that official, with Ro- 
man quickness, acts at once. No band of foolish fel- 
lows shall catch him napping. With the utmost dis- 
patch all plans are made. Two centurions are sum- 



88 



Life and Letters of Paul 



moned to go with their respective centuries at once as 
far as the Roman capital; seventy horsemen and two 
hundred spearmen are also marshaled, and by nine 
o'clock they are off for their all-night ride. Could any- 
thing give greater proof of Luke's admiration for the 
.Roman rule as opposed to the fanatical misrule of the 
Jews than the evident relish and enthusiasm with which 
he describes the ready resourcefulness of this chief cap- 
tain? At the same time he does not disguise his adroit- 
ness. This is shown in the translation he has given us 
of the letter Lysias sent to the Governor, Felix, explain- 
ing his hurried action. In this letter Lysias does not 
fail to blow his own trumpet as a conserver of the 
peace, while at the same time he makes much of an 
"examination" of the prisoner held by the Council in 
his presence. 

A thirty-five-mile ride brought the company of four 
hundred and threescore and odd men to Antipatris. 
Here they were surely out of reach of Jewish spleen, 
and the soldiers were allowed to go back, the horse- 
men alone going on with the noted prisoner. When 
Paul was presented to Felix, there was only one question 
asked at the time, and that was with regard to the sort 
of province from which he came — that is, whether it 
was imperial or senatorial. This was in all proba- 
bility to find out whether the case fell rightly under 
his jurisdiction. The moment he was assured that he 
was from Cilicia he was satisfied and at once stated 
that he would hear the case on the arrival of the prose- 
cutors. In all this we cannot fail to note the admi- 
rable method of Roman rule and see in the strong hand 
of the Csesars the moving of the finger of God. What 
became of the forty foolish zealots we know not. Doubt- 
less, after a few pangs of hunger and pains of thirst, 
they found some casuist among the councilors who was 
able to get them out of their tangle, especially as the 
bird had flown and left them helpless. At any rate, 
the records of the city so far dug up do not record 



A Captive in Ccesarea 89 

any extraordinary increase in the death rate during 

these days. 

The Initial Indictment 

Let us now look at the indictment preferred by Paul's 
accusers. It was presented in due form through Ana- 
nias the high priest (who doubtless at this time rose 
to a question of personal privilege) and certain elders 
who had been selected to proffer the charges. The 
spokesman was Tertullus, a professional pleader of 
the day. He is a competent lawyer, knowing both the 
temper of his clients and the character of the court in 
which the trial is being held. The charge itself has 
two general expressions and one special item. Paul 
is first of all a "pest." By this he means to dub him 
a public nuisance and as such guilty of laesa majestas, 
in that he is a stirrer up of sedition among the Jews. 
This is tantamount to charging him with being a 
traitor to the Roman State and naturally is put first 
by the adroit prosecuting attorney. The second general 
charge is that he is a ringleader among the Nazarenes. 
This body had no legal status, and at the same time 
was in violation of the Jewish law. Among these sec- 
tarians — themselves, illegal — Paul was a front rank 
man. Hence the argument of the- artful attorney. The 
third element in the charge was that of a specific act — 
namely, temple profanation. This last he argues is the 
immediate cause of the culprit's capture, and he has 
witnesses in the person of the Jews present to prove 
his charge and support his indictment. This speech of 
Tertullus then states that Paul is guilty on three 
counts. He has committed, first, a political crime; sec- 
ondly, a religious offense; and thirdly, he has com- 
mitted a particular breach of the law. It is in order 
to offset this that Paul summarizes his defense in 
chapter xxv. 8: "Neither against the law of the Jews, 
nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned 
at all." 



90 



Life mid Letters of Paul 



A Triple Defense 

Let us now run hurriedly over the threefold defense 
he makes. The first is before Felix, and this, as "both 
the others, is determined in its matter and manner by 
the character of the judge before whom Paul stands. 

The first is Felix. This man had been known to the 
Jews for several years. He had been prefect in Sa- 
maria, and since fifty-one or fifty-two he had been proc- 
urator of Palestine. Here, then, was a man who ought 
to know the condition of things, and so Paul takes it 
for granted that the case will be heard on its merits, 
and he at once proceeds to congratulate himself that 
he is in the presence of a judge who can sympathize 
with the current of events. After this graceful and 
grateful introduction, Paul at once proceeds to address 
himself to the charges preferred. The charge of treason 
he at once dismisses with a strong denial. He declares 
that he went up to Jerusalem to worship, not to make 
converts. In fact, he was simply respecting the com- 
pact made in the Jerusalem Council years ago in ab- 
staining from evangelistic work in the Jewish capital; 
hence he could not rightly be accused of gathering 
crowds on the streets or in any other way disturbing 
the public peace. The religious crime of belonging to 
a "sect" Paul admits in a sense which he at once inter- 
prets. He denies that he is not a follower of the God 
of his fathers, but confesses that he worships him 
after "the Way" the Jews are pleased to call a heresy. 
But he avows that he has the same faith, though fuller 
and stronger; the same hope, though brighter and 
better founded; and the same love, though broader and 
more tangible — for does he not believe all things that 
are written in the Law and the Prophets; does he not 
hope in God for a glorious resurrection; and was he 
not at the very time of his arrest engaged in bringing 
as proof of their Christian charity the alms of the Gen- 
tile brethren to the poor Jewish Christians in the capi- 



A Captive in Cwsarea 91 

tal city? The third charge — that of temple profanation 
— Paul indignantly denies in toto. Defying them one 
and all to prove one whit of their slanderous attack, 
he further declares that it was really in order to carry 
out their ancestral customs that he had gone into the 
sacred precincts, and they in fact are the real sinners 
for having interrupted him in his religious act. The 
council itself had found no fault in him for it, and 
why should they? 

We need not delay on the outcome of the personal 
interviews that Paul had from time to time with Felix. 
Luke gives us a graphic account of one, and it serves 
to shed a flood of further light upon the character of 
this official. His venality and time-serving policy show 
up in such vivid contrast with the stern ruggedness 
and heroic courage of Paul that the world has long ago 
settled who was the judge and who the culprit at the 
bar. "We hasten to the second formal hearing accorded 
the apostle during this sojourn in Caesarea. This oc- 
curred before Festus, who after two years succeeded 
Felix as procurator. 

The enemies of Paul at Jerusalem, ever ready and 
keen to turn everything to advantage to carry their 
point, saw what they thought a happy providence in a 
change of officials. One of the first duties devolving 
upon the new incumbent was the settling of all "left 
over" cases. Here was their chance. He would, of 
course, be eager to conciliate the populace of his new 
province, and hence they at once make a request that 
he grant them a favor by bringing Paul to Jerusalem. 
But this Roman was no novice. Their eagerness gave 
them away, and his curt and cutting response was: 
"Let them that are of power among you go down with 
me." Disappointed but not despairing, they accepted 
the challenge and were soon in Csesarea experiencing 
a discomfiture most humiliating. They made "many 
and grievous charges, which they could not prove." 
Festus no doubt enjoyed the scene. Still he was a new- 



92 Life mid Letters of Paul 

comer, and these men could give him a world of trouble. 
So he plays a card for himself now. He asks Paul if he 
is willing to go to trial at Jerusalem. Instantly there 
flashes into the mind of the apostle the meaning of the 
many stronge providences that have recently been guid- 
ing his steps. At a glance he sees God's way of bringing 
him to Rome, the city of his fondest dreams, and lo! 
it is in his power to fulfill the divine decree. He sees 
and seizes his opportunity, and in the pronouncing of 
the single word "Appello" he secures immunity from 
Jewish persecution and an audience at the court of 
Caesar. 

Paul's third hearing was before Agrippa. No lan- 
guage can recite the splendor of this scene where the 
honest soul of the apostle, all aflame with zeal in a 
righteous cause, puts to utter shame and confusion all 
the pomp and pageantry of mere earthly glory and by 
its sublime eloquence and contagious enthusiasm makes 
the petty worldling forget for the nonce his own little- 
ness as he is nearly swept away by the thrilling appeal 
of his extraordinary prisoner. 

Agrippa's double character — Jew by blood and in- 
fluential at Rome — gave Paul an opportunity in this 
hearing that he did not fail to take advantage of. He 
therefore makes this the occasion for the recital again 
of his wondrous conversion, and he tells anew the story 
of this marvelous occurrence with such sweeping fervor 
that this has become indeed the authoritative one, in 
all probability, for readers of his life. It is indeed his 
"apologia pro vita sua" and pertinent that it should be 
given with just this setting. Standing on Palestinian 
soil, arraigned before a Roman tribunal, in the presence 
of the representative of his nation — here all the ele- 
ments are complete for the sturdy apostle of the faith 
that is capturing the world to deliver his ultimatum. 
And this Paul does with an eloquence and logic not 
elsewhere reached in his speeches in Acts. So in- 
wrought into the fiber of his soul is the substance of 



A Captive in Caesar ea 93 

the gospel message he has to deliver that all thought 
of personal defense at times leaves him and he stands 
forth far more in defense of the gospel of Christ than 
p.e does in the interest of his own life. This scene 
constitutes the climax of Paul's public career as nar- 
rated by Luke, and how beautiful the impression it 
leaves when the historian closes a speech of such power 
and eloquence with the apostle making a personal ap- 
peal for the conversion of Agrippa and, in spite of his 
insolent retort, pictures Paul breathing forth naught 
save loving enthusiasm that all might partake of the 
peace and joy that fill and thrill his own heart! Surely 
as we have followed the apostle's career we have had 
abundant proof that he is worthy to bear witness be- 
fore the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 
Now with the momentum of many years of sacrifice and 
labor he is ready to preach the gospel to them that are 
at Rome also. So far he has certainly fought a good 
fight; so far he has certainly kept the faith; we can, 
therefore, trust his heroism and devotion for the future, 
whatever it may bring forth. 

1. At what time and place were the first two years of 
Paul's captivity, and what are the special points of in- 
terest to be noted? 

2. What plot was formed against his life, and by 
whom was it unearthed? How was it defeated? 

3. What do we learn from this story of the methods 
of the Roman government and military discipline? 

4. What lesson do we learn of God's power to overrule 
the wrath and evil designs of man? 

5. Before whom was Paul first brought for trial, and 
what kind of man was he? 

6. By whom was the indictment brought against 
Paul? 

7. What three important charges were made by Ter- 
tullus in the indictment? 

8. How did Paul summarize his defense, and what 
was his manner while speaking to Felix? 

9. What does he say in regard to the first charge? 
The second? The third? 



94 



Life arid Letters of Paul 



10. Why did Felix delay his decision in the case, and 
how long did he hold Paul a prisoner? 

11. Who succeeded Felix as procurator, and what at- 
tempt did Paul's enemies make to secure from him 
Paul's condemnation and death? 

12. How did Paul defeat their efforts by his appeal 
to Caesar? How was this to secure his own fond desire 
and God's will? 



XI. ON TO ROME 

Time.— Variously estimated from A.D. 57 to 61. The 
time of year is fairly well fixed by the reference to the 
fast (xxvii. 9). This was the dangerous season for 
navigation, as it might fall anywhere from the end of 
September to the early part of October — the time of the 
equinoctial storms. In fact, anywhere between the mid- 
dle of September and the middle of November might 
prove a hazardous time for seagoing in that day of 
small vessels and no compasSo 

Places. — Consult carefully a good map of this Paul's 
greatest voyage and note the general direction, the ports 
touched, and the probable place of the wreck. If one 
has access to a Bible dictionary, it would be full of 
interest to read the articles on the different places — 
especially Malta, the history of which has a most thrill- 
ing significance for English-speaking peoples. 

Scripture Material. — Acts xxvii. and xxviii., through 
verse 28. 

Introduction. — In this section of his history Luke 
shows that he is one of the great literary artists of 
all time. No similar piece of writing in all literature 
has more of vivid description or of human interest 
than these two chapters from the pen of Paul's compan- 
ion on this memorable voyage to Rome. It is true that 
Luke is no technical sailor; but his use of the lingo 
of the deck is so accurate that wc must credit him with 
being a most accurate transcriber of what he saw and 
heard. In fact, in spite of the most microscopic in- 
genuity of those who would impeach his testimony, the 
truthfulness of the whole narrative stands out so clearly 
that we must look upon it as one of the most authentic 
accounts that ever came from the pen of those that go 
down to the sea, in ships* The classic volume on this 

(95) 



96 



Life and Letters of Paul 



whole journey is that famous work, "The Voyage and 
Shipwreck of St. Paul," by James Smith, of Jordanhill. 
In this work every point of geography, history, and 
seamanship is carefully gone over and tested in the 
light of the most complete learning of our modern 
times, and the result is that we have not only a demon- 
stration of the truthfulness of this narrative, but also a 
mass of corroborative evidence for all the rest of the 
history that Luke has left us. 

We shall approach our study this month from the fol- 
lowing standpoint: (1) A Favorable Start (xxvii. 1-6), 
(2) The Storm and Shipwreck (xxvii. 7-43), (3) An Un- 
looked-for Haven (xxviii. 1-10), (4) A Lifelong Aim 
Attained (xxviii. 14, 15), (5) Paul's Reception at Rome 
(xxviii. 16-28). 

A Favorable Start 

Paul, we recall, was a prisoner at Caesarea. At that 
time this city was the principal seaport of Syria. Pos- 
sibly, owing to the lateness of the season, the centurion 
did not at first aim to go to Rome by water. This may 
account for taking not a ship bound for the Eternal 
City, but one that was headed for the northwest coast 
of Asia Minor. Possibly his plan was to reach in this 
way the great Egnatian road and so go the well-known 
land route. This is the way made famous in the next 
century by the journey of Ignatius from Antioch, where 
he was bishop, to Rome, where he suffered martyrdom as 
a Christian. The wind was favorable to Julius, for the 
next day Sidon, a port seventy miles away, was reached. 
Here this officer had a chance to show courtesy to Paul; 
and so the apostle had a few hours of intercourse and 
refreshment in the company of friends and relatives — 
possibly he had a slight attack of his chronic illness at 
this time. Putting out from Sidon, the captain of the 
ship soon saw that trouble was ahead. For the Etesian 
winds had begun to blow, and this made it impossible 
for him to take a course across the sea and forced him 



On to Rome 97 

to hug the shore; but by sailing under the lee of Cyprus 
all danger was avoided, and, though much time was 
lost, they finally put the ship in at Myra, after fifteen 
days of sailing. Here a ship was found from Alexan- 
dria, bound for Rome. It was a corn ship and as 
such quite commodious enough to accommodate the cen- 
turion and his company of soldiers and prisoners. Into 
this, then, they entered, doubtless thinking that a large 
ship, in spite of the possibility of storms, was better 
than the long and weary land trip. With the addition 
of the new passengers the ship's total went up to 276 
souls — this of itself being an indirect proof of the size 
of the vessel. Doubtless this craft had been blown into 
Myra by the very winds that had impeded the former 
vessel. At any rate, the same opposing breezes con- 
tinued, and the ship was probably another fortnight 
reaching Cnidus, the southwestern port of Asia Minor. 
Here a coasting voyage had to stop, and a new course 
had to be set. It was impossible to sail in the face of 
the west wind, and so the ship was turned south in 
order to get to the leeward of the island of Crete. Here 
the mountains were a partial shelter, but even so it 
was with the greatest difficulty that they finally reached 
a roadstead at the harbor called Fair Havens. Here 
they were forced to stop, for just a little farther to the 
west the coast takes a sharp turn to the north and 
leaves a ship utterly unprotected from the full force 
of the winds that had forced them under the island. 
Hence there was nothing to do but to rest awhile and 
take counsel. 

The Storm and Shipwreck 

Two questions must have presented themselves for 
solution. (1) Should the trip to Rome be abandoned? 
and (2) if so, where were they to winter? As officer in 
command Julius summoned not only the captain of the 
vessel, but Paul also. In council assembled all agreed 
that it was the part of wisdom to abandon at once the 
7 



98 Life and Letters of Paul 

attempt to reach Rome. The other question did not al- 
low the same unanimity of solution. Paul advised stay- 
ing at Fair Havens. But the master of the vessel and 
the owner, or his representative, were not in a mood 
to abide a whole winter near the small town of Lasea, 
when by a little hazard they might make Phoenix, which 
was the only really "secure harbor in all winds on the 
south coast of Crete." It was perfectly natural, there- 
fore, that Paul's suggestions were turned down and 
that of the officers of the ship followed. But the sad 
sequel proved that the apostle was really the one that 
had his weather eye open. In a short time the test 
came. A delusive south wind took the place of the 
western gale that had done them such hurt, and the 
sailors were encouraged in their hope that the time 
had come to make a dash for a safer harbor. But it 
was only one of those deceptions of the deep that has 
lured many a life to its death. Soon after they had 
pulled up anchor, just as they got off Cape Matala, 
Paul's fears proved all too true. A fierce tempestuous 
wind, called Euraquilo, swept down upon the ship, and 
in a trice the crew knew that an awful mistake had 
been made. This wind was a combination of Eurus, 
the southeast wind, and Aquilo, the north wind. It 
must have been what we know as a "twister." At any 
rate, it was the seaman's dread, and now for another 
fortnight and more this unhappy crew were to feel the 
power of this demon of the deep. It was impossible to 
face such a hurricane; all that could be done was to 
give way to it; so the storm sails were set and the 
luckless craft scudded under the lee of the island of 
Clauda, where the little boat that usually was towed 
behind was with great difficulty got aboard, and so 
desperate were the straits to which they were reduced 
that it was thought necessary to bind cables about the 
ship itself to see if by so doing it could be strengthened 
sufficiently to stand the stress and storm that was sure- 
ly ahead. And then another haunting dread took pos- 



On to Rome 99 

session of the men. The wind coming from E. N. E. 
was driving the ship in the direction of the fearful 
quicksands off the north coast of Africa — the Syrtis, 
as they are called. This dread drove them to the last 
pitch of despair. They could do nothing but lower all 
the gear or tackling, fling out great weights from the 
stern, hurl overboard all the freight, and as the next 
move toss out the furniture of the vessel. Now they 
stood in direst need. All had been done that human 
power and knowledge could do, and still naught but 
death stared them in the face. The light of sun by 
day and stars by night was gone; the storm had abated 
not one whit its fury; all hope was dead, and horrid 
despair was theirs. What might have happened to that 
corn ship had not Julius put his prisoners aboard we 
know not; but the fact remains that one of those pris- 
oners, now that he is aboard, proves the only salvation 
that ship has. When for a long time their anxious 
dread had robbed them of bread itself, Paul stands forth 
before them all with a word of rebuke, a word of en- 
couragement, a word of promise, and a word of Life. 
From now on he becomes the master of that vessel 
and the souls that make up its crew. It is his word 
that prevents the selfish cruelty of the sailors (verse 
32) ; it is his word that commands food to be given, 
thus fortifying them all for the dangers of the wreck 
that is to be (verse -34) ; it is his word that sends cheer 
into all their hearts as they see this servant of God 
so thoroughly persuaded of the final outcome (verse 
36); it is his word that directs the casting out of all 
superfluous wheat, relying as he does on the simple 
promise of his Father's care (verse 38); it is his word 
that prevents the massacre of the prisoners whom the 
soldiers in a mad fit of self-preservation would cruelly 
kill (verse 43); and finally it is Paul's word that is 
fulfilled in the fact that at last they reach shore; in 
pathetic plight, it is true, but all safe and sound. 



100 Life and Letters of Paul 

An Unlooked-For Haven 

The place where they landed was the island of Malta. 
Luke speaks, of course, as a Greek when he calls the 
people "barbarians." He simply means that they were 
not Greeks. Their hospitable reception of the unfor- 
tunate shipload shows that they were far from being 
uncivilized. A glance is given, however, into their gen- 
eral attitude toward things in the incident w T ith regard 
to the viper. Certainly the chief man of the island 
did all he could to show hospitality, giving as he did 
royal entertainment for three days to the party. The 
relations of the hosts and refugees were further cement- 
ed by the healing that was accomplished by Paul, first 
in the matter of the father of Publius, and then all 
others that had diseases were brought and received 
what their unlooked-for guests had to impart. Surely in 
the case of these Maltese it came to pass that angels 
were entertained unawares! The natural culmination 
of these mutual courtesies is reached in the statement 
of the grateful historian: "They honored us with many 
honors, and when we sailed away they put on board 
such things as we needed." So unremittingly does a 
kind Providence watch over his children, and from such 
unexpected quarters does He supply them help in every 
time of need. 

A Lifelong Aim Attained 

Caesarea had been left in early autumn; the winter 
was spent in the island of Malta, and, now that spring 
arrived, a new start is made. After three months an- 
other Alexandrian ship, which had wintered in the 
island, is boarded, and soon the party is off again. The 
name or "sign" of this vessel was the Dioscuri — called 
so in honor of the twin gods Castor and Pollux, patron 
deities of the heathen sailors of that day. But no false 
gods need vouch for the safety of that ship which bore 
as one of its number Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ. 
The promise had been made to him months ago, "Thou 



On to Rome 101 

shalt see Rome and bear witness of me there"; and, 
though the way it had all come about was one that 
even the apostle himself would not have chosen, still it 
was God's way, and the disciple was willing to follow 
his Lord's leading. The journey from now on was 
fraught with nothing of special interest — only a stop 
of three days at Syracuse on the island of Sicily, a de- 
lay of one at Rhegium, the southernmost port of Italy, 
and a seven days' stay with Christian brethren at Pute- 
oli, one hundred and forty miles distant from the city 
of Caesar, and then the long and dangerous voyage is 
over, the ambition of a lifetime of patriotic love is real- 
ized, and before the glad and grateful gaze of the apos- 
tle to the nations there spreads the thrilling vision of 
the capital of the world. No wonder we can hear a 
deep sigh of relief in Luke's triumphant sentence: 
"And so we came to Rome." No wonder that at the 
market of Appius, forty miles out, and farther on at 
the Three Taverns, thirty miles out, when Paul saw 
Christian brethren coming to greet him, he uttered 
thanks to God for this glad sight and took into his 
heart a new measure of courage for the days of sus- 
pense and trial that were to follow. For the meeting 
with these Christians was a most pleasant contrast 
with the cold welcome accorded him by his Jewish fel- 
low countrymen. 

PauVs Reception at Rome 

For three days the apostle was allowed to rest from 
the tedium of the long and toilsome trip. At the end of 
this time he called together the leaders among the Jews 
in order to make plain to them the reason for his ap- 
peal. This shows a marked courtesy on his part and, 
at the same time, was a tactful move to get an oppor- 
tunity to proclaim the message of Christianity to them. 
It was important for him to get, if he could, the atti- 
tude they would assume toward his coming trial. Hence 
he is careful to tell them that it is out of no animosity to 



102 . Life and Letters of Paul 

his nation that he is present, but simply as a last re- 
sort to save his life. To his surprise and to ours, too, 
the Jews reply that they know nothing of his troubles, 
and they are therefore impartial, as they are also igno- 
rant of this new sect. Whether they were simply simu- 
lating ignorance of Paul's case or whether reports had 
been sent and had been lost or delayed in the same 
storm that caused Paul and his ship so much distress 
will doubtless never be known. At any rate, however, 
it is strange that the Roman Christians had so far 
made no greater impression on the Jews there than is 
indicated in this interview. If it be true that they 
were up to this time such an insignificant factor, we 
may well be persuaded that it was necessary for Paul 
to be providentially guided thither so as to put faith 
and fiber into the little band. From the fact, however, 
that Paul in his letter to the Roman Church makes 
much of their strength and zeal, we rather suspect 
that here, too, these wily Jews are fabricating or at 
least playing for time. At any rate, Paul takes them at 
their own statement and appoints a day when they are 
to come to his room and hear him present the cre- 
dentials Christianity has for their credence. The out- 
come of this interview is not different from what the 
apostle has seen time and time again. Some believe 
and others disbelieve. And there, in the city set on the 
Seven Hills, the capital of the Gentile world, Paul in 
sadness has to see the realization of the prophet's word 
that the chosen have become the rejected. Great grief 
is this to him who penned the ninth chapter of the let- 
ter to the Romans. But stern facts must be faced; and 
so as he had been forced to appeal from the bar of 
Jewish justice to the court of Caesar in order to save 
his life, so now he is forced to appeal from Judaism 
to heathendom in order to get a hearing for the glorious 
gospel he is set to promulgate. And so the interview 
closes with the apostle not in despair, but in the ecstasy 
of a triumphant conviction: "This salvation of God is 



On to Rome 103 

sent unto the Gentiles. They will hear it." And for 
two whole years in his work as a city evangelist and 
his writings to far-away Gentile Churches we read the 
answer to his ardent faith. 

1. What is the general character of Luke's account 
of Paul's journey from Csesarea to Rome? 

2. Under what conditions did he begin his journey, 
and what route did the ship take? 

3. Give the incidents that occurred before they reached 
the harbor of Fair Havens. 

4. How did Paul's advice as to their next move differ 
from that of the ship's officers, and which proved the 
wiser? 

5. Describe the storm they encountered. 

6. What encouraging promise did Paul give them from 
God, and how did he express his faith in it? 

7. What courageous expostulation did he make against 
the desertion of the sailors? 

8. What sensible advice did he give about taking food, 
and with what religious expression? 

9. What was the fate of the ship and its passengers? 

10. Upon what island were they wrecked, and how 
were they treated by the people? 

11. What miracles were performed for and by Paul? 
What impression did they make, and what return was 
made to them? 

12. What lesson do we learn of God's providential 
care of his children, and also of our call to service for 
humanity wherever we are? 

13. Who met Paul on his landing in Italy, and how 
and with what spirit did he journey toward Rome? 

14. How was he treated when he reached Rome? Does 
not this indicate an appreciation of his wise, consistent 
Christian life? 

15. To whom did Paul first turn for sympathy and 
presentation of the gospel? With what result? 

16. With what expression of grief did Paul turn to 
preach that gospel to the Gentiles, yet with what words 
of triumphant faith? 

17. How were his next two years spent? 

18. Can you see the leading of God's providence in 
the whole life of Paul, and especially in the manner 
of his bringing him to Rome in answer to his prayer? 



XII. " TWO WHOLE YEARS " 

Time.— Variously placed— 59-61, 61-63. 

Place. — Rome, in Paul's hired house, doubtless lo- 
cated in the neighborhood of the Pretorian Guard. 

Scripture Material. — Acts xxviii. 30, 31. It would be 
well to read the epistles that Paul wrote during this 
two years' stay at the capital. Doubtless the first was 
that directed to Colosse, accompanied by the private 
letter to Philemon with regard to his runaway slave 
Onesimus. Then followed quickly — sent by the same 
messenger — the circular letter to the Churches in the 
Lycus Valley, known to us as Ephesians. In all proba- 
bility the last one written was that to the Philippiaris 
in answer to a contribution sent by that loyal ChurGh 
to the apostle in his lonely imprisonment. 

We shall study our material under the following 
heads: (1) The Conditions of the Captivity, (2) Evan- 
gelistic Enterprise, (3) Literary Labors, (4) The Prob- 
able Outcome. 

The Conditions of the Captivity 

The conditions of Paul's Roman imprisonment were 
by no means harsh. All the intercourse he had hither- 
to had with the government officials had gone to prove 
to them that he was in no wise a criminal. They may 
not have understood clearly his case, but his bearing 
had ever been such as to inspire them with confidence 
in his innocence of any crime and fill them with ad- 
miration for his strength of character. Hence it is not 
surprising that when he reached Rome no effort was 
made to keep him in "durance vile." After the Jewish 
leaders had pronounced themselves ignorant of the 
whys and wherefores of his presence, it only remained 
for the Roman authorities to go through the formali- 
(104) 



"Two Whole Years" 105 

ties of hearing his appeal. He was, of course, to be 
brought before the bar of the emperor. But Nero was 
proverbially dilatory save when his own private passion 
was involved, and so we can readily see how procrasti- 
nation would be the order of the day. More or less 
license, too, would be granted the apostle; and while 
we cannot say that he was a free man during the time, 
still the liberties allowed him and courtesies extended 
made it hardly more than a detention. Of course he 
was a "prisoner in bonds,'' as his letters at this period 
declare, and it is true that he was under the constant 
surveillance of a soldier guard, but at the same time 
he was allowed to live in his own hired house and 
choose, to a large degree, his associates and line of 
work. This meant no small victory for the cause of 
Christ. Luke's last sentence in Acts is truly a paean. 
After he has told us of the rage and opposition and 
bloodshed and outrage the cause of the gospel has had 
to encounter in its march from the upper room in Jeru- 
salem to the Palace of the Caesars in Rome, it is with 
no small satisfaction and gratitude to God that he 
writes down the word which in the Greek has the res- 
onance of realized ambition — "unmolestedly" 

Evangelistic Enterprise 

The conditions of Paul's captivity then were not inim- 
ical to evangelistic enterprise of the most varied and 
successful type. In the first place, there lay before 
him the great field of Gentile Rome. His experience in 
all the great centers of heathendom now stood him in 
splendid stead. With what a momentum of enthusiasm 
and energy and enterprise he came to the capital! This 
soon began to tell and tell splendidly iti the rapid in- 
crease in the Church's growth. Then there was the 
special field of the "palace" of the Caesars. We may 
not know exactly what the term means as Paul uses it, 
but it certainly suggests that among the soldiery, the 
official classes, and possibly in the royal household 



106 Life and Letters of Paul 

itself, large inroads were made by the gospel preacher. 
Certainly from testimonials a little later we have 
authority for believing that not a few among the no- 
bility were caught for Christ as the result of Paul's 
energetic methods as an evangelist. But possibly the 
largest field he had was that supplied by the slums: 
the riff-raff of the world at that time was to be found 
in the capital. As one of the satirists of the day com- 
plained, "The scum of the Orontes had flowed into the 
Tiber," and as one of the caricaturists of Christianity 
was wont to exclaim: "Fcex urbis, lux orbis" ("The 
dregs of the city have become the light of the world"). 
What a marvelous commentary on the divine character 
of Christianity! The gospel has already gained a great 
victory at Thessalonica at the foot of Mt. Olympus, it 
had already begun to purify that foul pit of Corinthian 
corruption; now it was beginning to cleanse the sewers 
of, Rome itself. One example of Paul's success as a 
slum worker is that seen in the case of Onesimus, the 
runaway Phrygian slave, who found his way to Christ 
as a convert to the new faith. Nothing in all literature 
is so beautifully touching as Paul's plea for him in his 
letter to Philemon, his master. Nor is there any fact 
in history more telling as an argument for the divine 
power of the new religion than the remarkable trans- 
formation of this desperate and degraded character into 
a disciple of the pure and lowly Nazarene. 

PauVs Literary Labors 

But great as was the local work Paul did in Rome 
at this time, the most important for all time is what 
he did not directly but indirectly. Paul's influence on 
Rome was tremendous; but Paul's influence on after 
ages through his literary labors at this time is well- 
nigh incalculable. For it was during this two years' 
stay that he wrote four of the most valuable epistles 
that we have from his pen. While the work of the city 
pressed upon him most heavily, still he was not too 



"Two Whole Years" 107 

busy to hear the appeal for help that came to him 
from across the seas, where his beloved brethren were 
in danger. Among these four letters, Colossians stands 
at the head of the list both in point of time arid im- 
portance. It was written in answer to news that had 
reached Paul through Epaphras (i. 7), who had come 
to Rome about this time. The gist of his report was 
that the Colossian Church was being imperiled by a 
sort of incipient gnosticism, coupled with an admix- 
ture of Jewish ceremonialism, the end of which was 
to curtail the glory of Christ and limit the freedom of 
the Christian believer. Hence in .this writing Paul sets 
himself to show clearly the absolute supremacy of Christ 
and the real essence of the believer's relation to him. 
Far from being one of a series of emanations from 
Deity, Christ is the image of the Invisible God. He 
stands absolutely unique and supreme in both the cos- 
mic and the moral spheres; being the Creator of the 
world and the Head of the Church. Paul in this epistle 
reaches the climax of his Christological thinking, and 
a more convincing and eloquent setting forth of the 
prerogatives of our Lord it is impossible to find. Then, 
too, if the Christian has such a great Saviour, the work 
of the Saviour needs no supplement from Jewish law 
works or the ascetic practices enjoined by that phase 
of Gnosticism which teaches that the flesh is inherently 
sinful. These things may make a show of piety, but 
they have no real efficacy in cleansing the conscience. 
This is a task too large for any less than the Lord 
Christ. The Christian career begins with a resurrec- 
tion; therefore all who enter upon it are to "seek the 
things which are above, where Christ sitteth." 

Paul himself had never been to Colosse (ii. 1), but 
he had spent something over two years at Ephesus. It 
was with regard to his stay in this center that Luke 
makes the statement that "all they that dwelt in Asia 
heard the word." So we may well accept the explana- 
tion that Epaphras had been the evangelist who repre- 



108 Life and Letters of Paul 

sented Paul in the city of Colosse and several of the 
other cities of the Lycus Valley. Hence it is not sur- 
prising that Paul took advantage of this opportunity 
to send another letter to the Churches in that region. 
Nor is it surprising that his theme should he some- 
what analogous. If Christ is the center of the Colos- 
sian writing, the Church is the center of the Epistle to 
the Ephesians. The two are companion letters sent to 
Churches in close relationship, and, from what Paul 
says in Colossians iv. 16, designed to be exchanged so 
that each Church could get the benefit of both letters. 
What a significant thought is here! Paul would have 
these people know, and us too, that Christ and his 
Church are indissolubly joined. One cannot be under- 
stood apart from the other: these twain hath God 
joined, and woe to that man who seeks to sunder them! 
The letter we name Ephesians is doubtless the letter 
Paul refers to as "that to the Laodiceans. ,, The expla- 
nation is that his was a circular letter designed to be 
sent around to the Churches of that neighborhood, and 
doubtless a blank space was left to be filled in by the 
Church officer when the letter was delivered. It is 
natural that the copy which was left at Ephesus should 
be the one that we get ours from, as that was the chief 
Church of the whole circuit. 

Accompanying the Ephesian and Colossian letters, 
both of which were carried by Tychicus (see Eph. vi. 22 
and Col. iv. 7) was another, a private note sent to 
Philemon, a resident of Colosse and owner of the slave 
Onesimus, who himself bears the missive, doubtless un- 
der the care of Tychicus. The circumstances of the 
writing of this letter were most romantic, and the sen- 
timent breathed is so beautifully human that this short 
chapter has been the recipient of more encomiums than 
almost any other piece of letter-writing that could be 
named. How significant of the apostle's breadth of 
soul that he could leave the high Christological and 
ecclesiological plane of Colossians and Ephesians, where 



"Two Whole Years" 109 

Christ and the Church are all in all, and descend to the 
low level of a despicable Phrygian slave! It simply 
shows the divine dynamic of the Christian gospel and 
the marvelously transforming power of the grace of 
Christ in the heart and life of one that had formerly 
been a proud blasphemer. One hardly knows which is 
the greater miracle — to save Onesimus from the slums 
of Rome, from the sullen brutishness of a slave's re- 
venge, or save from his selfish Pharisaical pride a Saul 
of Tarsus. 

It is hardly necessary to say anything concerning the 
last letter Paul wrote during this imprisonment. How 
glad, however, we are that a time came in the life of 
the Apostle when the thunder and smoke of all battles 
cleared away! Here we have four small chapters, the 
very essence of the Christian gospel, unobscured by 
any smoke of controversy. Between him and his dear 
Philippians there is not a shadow; only once in the 
whole epistle does he glance at the old-time enemy, and 
then it is only a glance (iii. 2). Among the many 
jewels that glitter in this casket, of course, the one of 
supremest value is that in the second chapter, where 
the transcript of the mind of Christ is given. As we 
study this and other sections, we cannot withhold our 
assent from Bishop Lightfoot's characterization: "The 
Epistle to the Philippians is not only the noblest re- 
flection of St. Paul's personal character and spiritual 
illumination, his large sympathies, his womanly tender- 
ness, his delicate courtesy, his frank independence, his 
entire devotion to the Master's service; but as a monu- 
ment of the power of the gospel it yields in importance 
to none of the apostolic writings." Then, too, what a 
noble rebuke to fault-finding and pessimism! Here is 
a man that has had the utmost done to him that the 
hate and malice of men can devise, and yet, though still 
in prison, his spirit is as sweet as mortal man has ever 
shown and his hope as bright as any that heaven ever 
made to shine upon an earthly pathway. His constant 



110 Life and Letters of Paul 

note is: "Rejoice, and again I say, Rejoice." As we read 
these joyful strains that issue forth from Paul's Roman 
imprisonment, do not our hearts condemn us for our 
pining and frequent fretting over the providences of 
our lives? And as we see what great good to the world 
God brought out of that captivity, do we not have an- 
other illustration of the truth Paul himself discovered, 
that "all things work together for good to them that 

love God"? 

The Probable Outcome 

As to the probable outcome of this imprisonment, it 
is not difficult to see that the apostle himself expected 
speedy release at the time he wrote Philippians (see 
chapter i. 21-27). He could hardly have misjudged the 
signs so utterly. Hence it is probable that when the 
time came for his case to be heard he was set free and 
again entered upon missionary work. Certainly the 
testimony of Clement, a contemporary of Paul, looks in 
this direction. His words are: "After he had taught 
righteousness to the whole world and had gone to the 
limit of the west, and had borne his testimony before 
governors, he was taken from the world and went to 
the holy place, having become the very greatest ex- 
ample of patient endurance." If this be the proper in- 
terpretation of this passage, and if the uniform tradi- 
tion of the early Church is to be trusted, we may rest 
assured that after this fourth missionary enterprise 
Paul was again carried a prisoner to Rome, and there, 
during the latter years of Nero's reign, when the bloody 
passion of that human monster had risen to its highest 
pitch of rage, he suffered the loss of his life at the 
hands of the Roman headsman. Between his release 
and this event he writes the three pastoral letters, one 
to Titus and two to Timothy, in the last of which we 
have that noblest psean of victory the world's literature 
has yet seen (2 Tim. iv. 6-8). Such a victorious death 
fittingly closes 'such a valiant life as that of Paul the 
Apostle of Jesus Christ. 



"Two Whole Years" 111 

1. How long was Paul a prisoner at Rome? 

2. What were the conditions of his imprisonment? 

3. What opportunities did he have to preach the gos- 
pel? Among what classes were his converts? 

4. Which four of his epistles were written while in 
Rome? 

5. What led him to write the letter to the Colossian 
Church? What does Gnosticism teach? 

6. What does Paul teach the Colossians about Christ's 
power as a Saviour from sin? 

7. What connection was there between Ephesus and 
Colosse, and by whom were the two letters sent? 

8. What theme is the center of the Epistle to the 
Ephesians? 

9. Who was Philemon, to whom the third epistle was 
written, and what do we know of his slave Oneslmus? 

10. What is the keynote of the Epistle to the Philip- 
pians? 

11. What does Bishop Lightfoot say of it? 

12. What would the world have lost if these prison 
letters had not been written? What lessons has it 
learned from them? 

13. What lessons of patient faith, unswerving loy- 
alty, heroic endurance, and loving unselfishness do we 
learn from this "Prisoner of Christ"? 

14. What was the probable outcome of his trial? 

15. What are the traditions of the early Church in 
regard to Paul's life after leaving Rome? and of his 
second imprisonment? 

16. What epistles is he supposed to have written dur- 
ing this time? 

17. What are the last words we hear from him (2 Tim. 
iv. 6-8) ? 



XIII. THE THESSALONIAN LETTERS 

Value as Literature. —Paul's second missionary jour- 
ney has two outstanding characteristics, the importance 
of which cannot be overestimated. In the first place, 
it was in this venture that he entered Europe, and the 
coming of Christianity to this continent was a thing 
of world-wide import; in the second place, it was on 
this journey that Paul entered another continent — the 
Continent of Letters. Here even more than in the 
other instance is a fact of large significance. It is not 
going too far to say that the thirteen Epistles of Paul 
constitute one of the most remarkable literary outputs 
history knows. Whether we view them from the stand- 
point of the occasions that called them forth, the logic 
and fire they themselves contain, or their after effects 
on individuals or the Church at large, the statement 
remains true that no phase of literature brings to our 
notice a more interesting or influential list of writings 
than that whose author was the apostle to the Gentiles. 

The Missionary Motive. — In fact, these letters are all 
written to Churches in Gentile centers or to individuals 
who have their home there; so that these writings 
stand as an imperishable monument to the missionary 
zeal of the early Church. In fact, had not the underly- 
ing principle of foreign missions been recognized at that 
time, we should have scarcely had a New Testament at 
all. Certainly we should not now be privileged to be 
reading and studying these masterpieces of Paul's heart 
and pen. For all of them have as their permanent in- 
spiration the fact that the gospel has been planted on 
heathen soil, and they are, for tha most part, occupied 
with the questions and problems sprung by the fact 
that the Christian band or individuals to whom they 
are sent are seeking to hold up the Christian ideal in 
the midst of a "crooked and perverse generation." 
(112) 



The Thessalonian Letters 113 

Four Groups of Pauline Epistles 

The thirteen epistles are usually grouped in four di- 
visions. First there come what are called tho Mission- 
ary Epistles (1 and 2 Thessalonians) ; second, the Four 
Controversial Epistles (Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 
and Romans) ; the third group is made up of the epis- 
tles written by Paul during the two years which covered 
his first imprisonment in Rome and consists of Colos- 
sians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians; the fourth 
and last group is that known as the Pastorals, of which 

1 Timothy and Titus were written during the interim 
between his first and second Roman imprisonment, and 

2 Timothy, which was the last product of his pen, issu- 
ing from the Roman dungeon just before Paul's mar- 
tyrdom and being indeed his swan song. 

Just two things further must be emphasized. In the 
first place, the letters of Paul are occasional — that is, 
they are called forth by .certain conditions that confront 
the Churches; it is to meet present difficulties and 
problems that he writes; the epistle, in fact, simply 
takes the place of the apostle in his absence. In the 
second place, having found out the occasion of any 
writing, the next thing is to get, if possible, the cir- 
cumstances of the author himself. So in the study of 
Paul's letters we ought to ha constantly referring to 
the history of his life as given in the Acts. Two small 
volumes may be mentioned as specially helpful along 
this line. The first iz Findlay's "Epistles of Paul the 
Apostle," and the second is Burton's "Records and 
Letters of the Apostolic Age." Either of these volumes 
will ^rove of great value in elucidating the general con- 
ditions under which the letters of Paul were written. 

The Missionary Epistles 

We shall confine ourselves in this study to 1 and 
2 Thessalonians and will treat the three special phases 
of (1) date, (2) circumstances, and (3) general teach- 
ing of each. It will be well for those who follow the 

a 



114 Life and Letters of Paul 

studies to make an outline of each letter. The fol- 
lowing method is suggested: Take a Revised Version or 
a paragraph Bible, read over carefully the different sec- 
tions, and then try to characterize the contents of each 
section in your own words. This will serve two pur- 
poses^ — it will be the best way to master the contents 
of the letters and at the same time will prove the best 
method for gaining first-hand acquaintance with Paul's 
style of argumentation. 

Time of Composition. — The date of these two epistles 
is clearly fixed between certain limits. Of course the 
second letter follows a few months after the first* The 
first was written during Paul's first stay at Corinth, in 
the midst of his second missionary journey. The rea- 
sons for this are quite palpable. It was written after 
he had been driven out of Thessalonica by the uproar 
raised by the Jews. This is so recent that Paul instinc- 
tively refers to it in chapters i. and ii.; the letter is 
later than his stay at Athens, as indicated in iii. 1; it 
is also subsequent to the return of the messengers he 
had sent to find out their condition (iii. 6) ; it was writ- 
ten when Silas and Timothy were his companions (i. 
1) ; and finally Paul, when he writes, is at some strategic 
point where he can readily receive information as to 
the growth and influence of the Thessalonian Church. 
All these points suggest Corinth; and when we glance 
at the condition of mind Paul himself is in, as seen in 
such sections as iii. 1-10, we are no longer in doubt that 
this is a writing that was born of the loving anxiety of 
an absent pastor for his flock, exposed as he well knew 
to the dangers of persecution and immaturity. 

The circumstances that called forth the letters are 
suggested by these facts. The first epistle was written 
on the return of Timothy, bringing news of their faith- 
fulness under stress of temptation to apostasy. We can 
hardly appreciate the effect this message had on Paul. 
He was in Corinth and had been thrown into deep de- 
spair by reason of the terrible odds he there found 



The Thessalonian Letters 115 

against him; he had received a rebuff to his optimism 
at Athens, from which he had not yet recovered; he 
was overwhelmed with anxiety for the safety of his 
recent converts in Thessalonica. The whole outlook was 
charged with doubt and insecurity, but Timothy's return 
brought a flood of gladness to his soul, as he says, "For 
now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord," and in the 
glad revulsion of feeling which the good news of their 
faithfulness occasions Paul is spurred to write to his 
absent children and at the same time is nerved to 
greater exertions in the city of Corinth itself. And who 
of us can tell how much of his success in that city was 
due to the inspiring thought that, as the gospel had 
had such a wonderful success in Thessalonica — lying 
as it did at the foot of Mount Olympus — it could not 
be defeated in Corinth, however great and wicked it 
might be? 

The occasion of the second epistle seems to be sug- 
gested clearly in 2 Thessalonians ii. 1; the apostle's 
words here indicate that these people had confused ideas 
with regard to the coming of the Lord. In fact, the 
first epistle (see iv. 13, v. 11) contains proof that there 
was a question deeply agitating their minds, and that 
was with regard to the dead and dying Christians. 
•'What part were they to have in the glory of the 
Parousia? Would they not be bereft of some blessing 
in that they had died before the Lord returned?" 
What was a minor point in the first letter assumes a 
magnitude of first importance in the second. So Paul 
specifically sets himself to correct any false impression 
they may have got with regard to the nearness of 
Christ's coming and declares specifically that this mani- 
festation of Christ will be antedated by at least two 
great events: a great apostasy and a revelation of the 
man of sin; and even this second waits upon another 
influence, for he will not be revealed until the restrain- 
ing power is removed. This is the apostle's answer to 
the feverish fanaticism that had taken possession of 



116 Life and Letters of Paul 

those fledgelings in the faith; and in this second letter 
he calls them back to soberness and industry, to that 
calmness of soul which true faith ever inspires and 
that life of continued well-doing which is the only legiti- 
mate fruit of the Christian profession. 

As to the general teaching and value of these early 
writings we cannot go into much detail. But one thing 
is prominent. These letters give us a glimpse into 
Paul's method of preaching to the heathen world and 
illustrate most vividly the pastor's passion that 
throbbed in his heart. For the first we have simply to 
refer to 1 Thessalonians i. 8-10, where he sets forth 
clearly the conviction of their entrance into the new 
kingdom, and to the same epistle (iv. 1), where he sets 
about to answer the fundamental question of all re- 
ligion: "How are we to walk about in this world, and 
to please God?" 

As to the second point, we need only refer to the sec- 
ond chapter of the first letter, which is one of the most 
thrilling sections in the New Testament, revealing as 
it does the heart of the true pastor; especially does this 
shine forth in such verses as the seventh, where Paul's 
figure is that of a tender nurse caring for her own chil- 
dren. 

But aside from these two special points there is a 
third consideration forced upon us by these early let- 
ters, and that is the power of the gospel to save men, 
however far from God, and to perpetuate its ideals in 
surroundings however unpropitious. We can hardly 
show this better than by calling attention to the char- 
acter of the Christianity exemplified by these Thessa- 
lonian Christians. In spite of the fact that for cen- 
turies they have been idolators steeped in the sluices 
of superstition and sin that flowed from Mt. Olympus 
— the holy (?) mountain of ancient heathenism — the 
gospel call comes to them with its high ideal, and in 
response to its imperial appeal they turn to the living 
God; they accept the gospel; they imitate the apostles 



The Thessalonian Letters 117 

of Christ and the Churches of Judea; they become ex- 
amples to the continent of Europe; they bring forth 
the fruits of Christian living; they have implanted in 
their souls the imperishable hope of a glorious resurrec- 
tion; and finally they become a great missionary center, 
from which echoes forth the message of redemption to 
all the regions round about. Surely such a Church is 
well worthy of our study and of our earnest imitation. 

1. What literary value have the Pauline Epistles? 

2. What is their cause and underlying motive? 

3. Into what four groups are they divided? 

4. What generally led Paul to write his letters? 

5. What was the date of the writing of the two letters 
to the Thessalonians? 

6. What were the circumstances that called forth 1 
Thessalonians? 

7. What caused the anxiety that led to 2 Thessalo- 
nians? 

8. Is there any reference to this matter in the first 
epistle? 

9. How does he seek to quiet their agitation on the 
subject of the second coming of Christ? 

10. What three points are noticeable in the general 
teaching of these epistles? 

11. What indication do they give of Paul's method of 
preaching? 

12. What do we find of the pastor's anxiety? 

13. What do we learn from them of the power of the 
gospel to save unto the uttermost? 



XIV. THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 

Scripture Material. — 1. (a) Read carefully the six 
chapters of Galatians, making out as far as possible 
your own analysis and tracing the development of Paul's 
line of argument. (&) Read the sections in Acts which 
relate to the first and second missionary journeys, (c) 
Try to harmonize the account Paul gives of a visit to 
Jerusalem in Galatians (chapter ii. 1-10) with the ac- 
count of the council Luke gives in Acts (chapter xv. 
6-29). Do not the different points of view of the two 
narrators explain the divergences of the two accounts? 
2. (a) Consult carefully some short life of Paul, such 
as Gilbert's or Stalker's and, using it as a guide, try 
to get into the atmosphere of this section of the apos- 
tle's career. (&) See if you can formulate the specific 
demands of the Judaistic branch of the Christian Church. 
This is necessary in order to get the full force of Paul's 
message to the Galatians. 

Our study will compass the following points: (1) 
Destination of the Letter to the Galatians, (2) Date 
and Place of Writing, (3) Occasion of Its Sending, (4) 
A General View of Its Contents, (5) The Spirit of the 
Message. 

Destination of the Letter to the Galatians 

First of all, who were the people to whom this stir- 
ring appeal was sent? At once two theories clash. 
Some say the letter was sent to the Churches round 
about the cities of Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium, which 
were the chief centers of what was technically known 
as Galatia, a section of country in the upper part of 
Central Asia Minor; others say that the letter was sent 
to the Churches in Lystra and contiguous towns in the 
southern part of what was known as the Roman Prov- 
ince of Galatia. Men of great learning are arrayed on 
(118) 



The Epistle to the Galatians 119 

both sides, contending successively for the North Gala- 
tian and the South Galatian view. There are difficul- 
ties in both theories, but on the whole the weight of 
the argument seems to be in favor of the §outh Gala- 
tian view. Certainly this is the construction that 
throws most light on the problem of Paul's history as 
given by Luke. For on this view he visits these peo- 
ple on his first missionary journey, and Luke has given 
us a full account of what his experiences were at that 
time and what success he had in his work; while the 
North Galatian theory postpones Paul's visit to the 
second missionary journey, and then Luke gives us but 
the barest statement: "Now when they had gone 
throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia" (Acts 
xvi. 6). This is rather a summary way of referring to 
a work among a people whom Paul thought so im- 
portant. So this consideration alone would suggest the 
greater likelihood of the contention of those who es- 
pouse the South Galatian theory. Without going into 
the details of the controversy, we shall assume that the 
letter was directed to the people whom Paul had evan- 
gelized on his first missionary journey, when in com- 
pany with Barnabas he set out from Antioch in Syria 
and traveled his first circuit till he reached Antioch in 
Pisidia. This gives a point to more than one passage 
in the Epistle which otherwise fail to reveal their due 
significance. Three only will be mentioned. In chapter 
ii. 13 Paul, in speaking of the disastrous influence of 
Peter's defection, declares: "So that even Barnabas was 
carried away." This has great meaning on the theory 
that the Galatians had seen Barnabas and knew how 
he ought to behave. But they could not have seen him 
in company with Paul save on the first journey, since 
at the beginning of the second mission the two leaders 
parted; therefore we conclude that the letter is directed 
to people who were preached to on Paul's first venture. 
Again, in chapter iv. 14, Paul says: "Ye received me 
as an angel of God." If we turn to the account Luke 



120 Life and Letters of Paul 

gives of the reception accorded the evangelists at Lys- 
tra (Acts xiv. 12), we see that these heathen called 
Paul Mercury, or Hermes. Now this deity was the mes- 
senger of the gods in their mythology, and we have sim- 
ply to substitute the word "messenger" for "angel" in 
the Galatian passage to see the point of Paul's refer- 
ence. Again, not to cite other details, the last statement 
in the Epistle (Galatians vi. 17), "I bear in my body 
the marks of the Lord Jesus," carries us irresistibly to 
the gateway of this same heathen city, where, influenced 
by the blind jealousy of the Jews, the people stoned the 
apostle and left him bleeding and mangled and half 
dead. To no other people would the scars of these cruel 
wounds — even now as he writes hardly healed — bear 
such an eloquent message of devotion to duty and loy- 
alty to the cross of Christ. 

Date and Place of Writing 

We might expand this point, but it is far better for 
the student to study out the subject at first hand, and 
so we pass on to state our opinion of the date and place 
of writing. Of course, these points are involved in the 
one just discussed. If the letter is sent to North Gala- 
tians, it cannot have been written anterior to the third 
missionary journey, and its probable place of writing is 
Ephesus. But on the South Galatian theory it can 
hardly have been at a later date than the close of the 
second journey or the opening days of the third. The 
reason for both these conclusions is in the obvious 
meaning of Galatians iv. 13, where Paul evidently limits 
his visits at the time of writing to two. On this con- 
struction the date and place of writing point to Antioch, 
during the interval between the second and third jour- 
neys. This gives special point to the whole discussion 
in the second chapter, where we believe Paul is present- 
ing principles which the Council at Jerusalem had so 
recently and so clearly set forth and commissioned him 
to promulgate. 



The Epistle to the Galatians 121 

Occasion of Its Sending 

This also sheds light on the third topic we are to 
consider— namely, the occasion of the Epistle. It seems 
that after the Council at Jerusalem, where the status 
of Gentiles was fully agreed upon by the Church, the 
disaffected party of the Pharisees, angry at their defeat 
and jealous of the growing power of the liberal branch, 
organized a regular propaganda and, repudiating in toto 
the agreement of the Council and zealously devoting 
themselves to proselyting among the Pauline Churches, 
made it their one business in life to dog the apostle's 
steps, harass his Churches, and in every way possible 
clog the current of evangelical Christianity. These had 
come to the Galatian region presumably after their sig- 
nal defeat at Antioch; and under the sting of two ter- 
rible drubbings — one at the capital of Christianity, Jeru- 
salem; the other at the mother city of Gentile missions, 
Antioch — they pounced with all fury upon the unsus- 
pecting fledgelings in Galatia and in a few short days, 
by insinuation, by open argument, by hypocritical as- 
sumption and presumption, had well-nigh weaned them 
away from their father in the faith; and, what was still 
worse, had nearly destroyed their faith in Christ and 
practically loosened their grip on the gospel of grace. 
Such an occasion demanded urgent and vigorous re- 
sponse on the part of Paul, and no demand was ever 
answered more promptly or effectively. 

A General View of Its Contents 

We see this most clearly as we turn now to consider 
in brief the contents of these six chapters. Galatians 
naturally divides itself into three main sections, corre- 
sponding roughly with chapters i. and ii., iii. and iv., 
and v. and vi. The first section is mainly personal, 
where Paul sets himself to defend against all calumny 
his apostolic title and to maintain his precedence as a 
gospel messenger. This throws light upon the positron 
taken by his enemies. They sought to invalidate the 



122 Life and Letters of Paul 

truth of his interpretation of the gospel by insinuating 
that he was not one of the original Twelve and got all 
the authority he had from them. This charge Paul 
meets by boldly denying that he had any contact at all 
with apostles prior to his call by Christ himself; and 
even subsequently thereto all the contact he had had 
with them had only shown either his equality with 
them or superiority to them in his grasp of the essence 
of the gospel message. 

The second section (chapters iii. and iv.) is occupied 
with maintaining dogmatically the doctrines of grace 
as opposed to the insidious leaven of legalism that was 
working in their midst. The apostle appeals to the 
facts of their conversion, the testimony of Scripture, 
the history of Abraham, the analogy of human institu- 
tions, and the nature of faith itself; and all he shows 
goes to prove that law is not an end with God and can 
never be his last word to men. No matter how Sinai 
may lower and roar, it is not the fullest expression of 
the divine intention toward mankind. Calvary is yet 
to appear. Slavery must give way to Sonship. Law 
fulfills its function when it demonstrates our need of 
Christ, and hence to revert from Christian freedom and 
spiritual deliverance to the shackles of institutionalism 
and the galling bondage of legal ceremonies is "to fall 
from grace" and become entangled in a yoke all the 
more grievous to be borne by reason of the fact that we 
have tasted of the joy of those who have once borne 
the easy yoke of Christ. No wonder Paul expostulates 
with fury at times; no wonder he chides his children 
severely; no wonder at moments he satirizes their folly; 
no wonder he pleads with tears; no wonder this Epistle 
is simply surcharge'd with the spirit of this mighty de- 
fender of the faith as no other that has dropped from 

his pen. 

The Spirit of the Message 

This leads us finally to say that this Epistle is indeed 
Paul in epitome. It is called the "Emancipation Procla- 



The Epistle to the Galatians 123 

mation of Early Christianity." It is to our faith what 
Magna Charta is to the English people — the bulwark of 
Protestantism; the banner of evangelical freedom which 
all the great spirits of the centuries have followed. 
Luther said he was betrothed to it; it was his Katharina 
von Bora. The humblest Christian in the land feeds 
his spirit on its great principles and in its description 
of the fruits of the Spirit has set before him the highest 
ideal of Christian character. The world could afford to 
lose many of its libraries, the Church could afford to 
shelve many of its creeds and conciliar pronounce- 
ments; but both would be woefully impoverished by the 
loss of this precious document, for this is the perennial 
spring to which the thirsty souls of men will forever go, 
and drinking from its pure waters will rise and go 
forth to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ 
hath made us free." 

1. To what Churches was the Epistle to the Galatians 
written? 

2. Give the two opinions concerning it and the argu- 
ments upon which they are based. 

3. At what date in Paul's career was it written? 

4. At what place was he? 

5. What special occasion called forth this letter? 

6. Who had been disturbing the minds of the Gala- 
tians? 

7. What false teaching had they been trying to in- 
culcate? 

8. Into what three main sections does the Epistle 
naturally divide itself? 

9. In the first section, how does Paul try to set him- 
self right and establish his authority as an apostle? 

10. In the second section, how does he compare the 
doctrine of grace with legalism? 

11. What argument does he make from the facts of 
their own conversion, the testimony of the Scriptures, 
and the history of Abraham? 

12. What rebuke, appeal, and warning does he make 
to the Gentiles? 

13. What great principle does the Epistle teach? 
14o What is its value to the world? 



XV. FIRST CORINTHIANS 

Scripture Material. — (1) Read 1 Corinthians carefully 
with a paragraph Bible. As we have sixteen chapters, 
it might be well to read week by week so much, treat- 
ing it topically as far as possible. (2) The following 
parallel passages in Acts will assist in our grasp of the 
historical situation: (a) For Apollos, Acts xviii. 24- 
xix. 7; (&) for the collections, Acts xx. 1-4; (c) for 
Paul's work in Corinth, Acts xviii. 1-21. 

Introduction. — The founding of a Christian Church 
in the city of Corinth during his second missionary 
journey was ever regarded by Paul as one of the crown- 
ing victories of his missionary career. So important a 
center was this that it easily eclipses all other of the 
European Churches as a strategic base. There is none 
other like it save the city of Ephesus, on the Asian 
coast, from which the apostle writes to his Christian 
brethren on the Isthmus of Corinth. For just as Ephe- 
sus became the strategic base from which the apostle 
conducted his campaign for the Christianization of Asia 
Minor, so Corinth in an ecclesiastical and evangelistic 
sense under the new imperial policy of Paul was to be 
the "eye of Greece," as her citizens had been so proud 
to call her in other senses. Consequently the corre- 
spondence directed to the Church at Corinth is of the 
very greatest interest to all students of the New Testa- 
ment. Unfortunately we have only a part of it. Sev- 
eral letters must have passed to Paul from the Church. 
These have all been lost; and, furthermore, one or two 
letters of Paul, too, seem to have disappeared. Our 
grief at the loss of these letters is assuaged only by the 
consideration of the incalculable value of that which 
remains. Just to glance at some general features of 
the letter we call the first to the Corinthians is to give 
(124) 



First Corinthians 125 

satisfactory proof of this assertion. Think of a few of 
the rich sections. Among the first stands Paul's incom- 
parable discussion of the message of the true minister 
of Christ; he learned at Corinth when brought face to 
face with the horrid conditions of heathenism that he 
had to get a greater grip on his gospel, and it was amid 
the experiences of opposition, unbelief, and abominable 
iniquity that met him in that city that he was led to 
scrutinize most acutely the real essence of Christianity; 
and from this experience he arose with the conviction 
that the word of the cross was the most potent instru- 
ment he had to wield and "Christ crucified" the only 
hope for a fallen race. Again, take his matchless psalm 
of love as contained in the thirteenth chapter of this 
Epistle away from the treasures of the race, and how 
bankrupt becomes the heart of humanity! Or elimi- 
nate from the literature of the world the fifteenth chap- 
ter of 1 Corinthians, and immediately the pall of de- 
spair settles upon every death chamber, and the im- 
penetrable doors of the grave close tight upon a race 
forever buried. 

We shall study this Epistle under the following heads: 
(1) The Time and Place of Writing, (2) The Occasion 
and General Contents, (3) The Condition of the Corin- 
thian Church, (4) Some Salient Teachings. 

The Time and Place of Writing 

Both items in this topic can be made out from the let- 
ter itself. The last chapter is usually the best place to 
begin the study of one of Paul's letters, especially in 
the case of those letters where he indulges in saluta- 
tions to friends and remarks concerning his own plans 
of work or travel. Such is the case with the sixteenth 
chapter of 1 Corinthians, which contains so many per- 
sonal allusions and references to others. Here we get 
the atmosphere of the writer. As we glance at the last 
chapter of this letter we see at once several points of 
interest. In the first place, the first verse tells us of a 



126 Life and Letters of Paul 

collection Paul has on hand "for the saints," and he is 
urging the Corinthian Churches to cooperate with him 
and his other Churches in making this a success. From 
verse 3 we find that Jerusalem is the destination of this 
gift. In verse 5 we have him planning a tour through 
Macedonia, during which he promises to spend the win- 
ter with them. But the eighth verse lets them know 
that he expects to stay where he is (in Ephesus) until 
Pentecost, for such a door of opportunity for evangel- 
istic work had been opened there that, in spite of the 
"many adversaries," he dare not refuse to enter, even 
to visit his beloved children at Corinth. These items 
are sufficient to fix the place definitely at Ephesus and 
the time generally as being near the close of his two 
years and three months' stay there. By reference to the 
nineteenth chapter of Acts several of these points will 
receive the corroboration of the historian. 

The Occasion and General Contents 

The occasion of the writing is just as clearly indicated 
in the body of the letter. Even the most casual reader 
must be struck by the constantly recurring phrase, "Now 
concerning. ,, (See vii. 1, 25, viii. 1, xii. 1.) This very 
phrase suggests the occasion of the writing — namely, 
that the Corinthians themselves had written to him a 
letter containing a series of questions asking light on 
the problems that confronted them in their efforts to 
apply Christian teaching to the life of the community 
of which they were a part. This is, indeed, a most es- 
sential factor in the occasion of this letter, and we 
should never cease being grateful for the fact that the 
Corinthian Church was really trying to solve its diffi- 
culties and had the good sense to ask Paul to throw 
light upon them. For as the outcome of this the apostle 
was given a chance, to some extent at least, to discuss 
the gospel in its relation to the community, and hence 
we have in this Epistle some of the best illustrations 
and applications ot social Christianity the New Testa- 



First Corinthians 127 

ment affords. It is true that Paul applies these prin- 
ciples in the light of local conditions; but no one can 
read his answers to the perplexing questions regarding 
marriage, things offered to idols, the Lord's Supper, 
spiritual gifts, and other community problems without 
in the first place admiring the sagacity and gentleness 
of Paul in his patient attempt to help these people and 
at the same time gaining some measure of light on the 
solution of present-day questions. 

But there is at least one other occasion that plays a 
part in the writing of this letter. We observe that 
Paul does not begin his answer to their questions until 
the seventh chapter. What is the occasion of the preced- 
ing portion? Our only need is to refer to the eleventh 
verse of the first chapter to find the answer to our 
query. They are there informed that the apostle has 
heard something about them at the hands of Chloe's 
household. This news has been in the nature of a por- 
trayal of the condition of the Church at Corinth with 
reference to party divisions. So greatly does the writer 
deprecate this splitting up of the body of Christ that 
he devotes four full chapters to the discussion of the 
gospel minister and the gospel message, in which he 
clearly shows that the fact of partisanship in the Chris- 
tian Church argues that they have thoroughly mis- 
understood the fundamental meaning of the gospel itself 
and have also woefully misinterpreted the function of 
the gospel herald. The gospel is not a philosophy, but 
a revelation whose highest glory is Calvary; the cross 
of Christ, not the syllogism of the school, is God's 
power to redeem the world. The gospel preacher is 
no philosopher, but a herald; he comes not with an 
apology, but with a proclamation; therefore he is not 
to rely upon the wisdom or rhetoric of this world, but 
upon the Spirit and the power of God. 

Another thing the apostle was painfully aware of: 
this was brought to him not by Chloe's household nor 
contained in the letter they sent, and that was the fact 



128 Life and Letters of Paul 

that the Church at Corinth was harboring in its fold 
a man who was guilty of a horrid crime. The fifth 
chapter is given up to the discussion of this sad fact 
and the attitude of the Church toward the transgressor. 
It was a thing notorious — a thing that inevitably put the 
Church in a bad light from the standpoint of the heathen 
community, a thing that must be cured and cured im- 
mediately. Paul does not hesitate to apply the rod; 
he insists that the Christian body purge itself of this 
festering sore, and the penalty he suggests, though 
severe, is the most sane that he could devise. 

It is in this section (v. 9) that he takes occasion to 
refer to a previous letter which, as he intimates, had 
been intentionally mis-read by them. He had told them 
to have no intercourse with men of this type. They had 
made out as if he had referred to their contact with 
the world at large. He now tells them plainly that 
what he meant was for them to cut loose from such if 
they were in the Church, laying down the general prin- 
ciple that so far as his disciplinary powers go the mis- 
creants inside the Church give him all he can do. The 
rest he will leave to God to judge. 

The Condition of the Corinthian Church 

What a pathetic condition of the Church does all 
this suggest! Members guilty of ordinary crimes and 
extraordinary ones too, others conniving at the crimi- 
nal, others in their factional zeal and spite making the 
gospel preacher a rallying point for prejudice and self- 
ish interest, others going to law against their brethren, 
and that, too, before heathen tribunals! Forgetting the 
sacred associations of the Lord's Supper, others go so 
far as to prostitute it to the low level of a mere glut- 
tonous gorging! And yet, while all this is true, we 
must not forget that for Christianity to get any lodg- 
ment at all in the midst of such an environment as that 
offered by the great and wicked city of Corinth was in 
itself a mighty victory. For of all the hell holes in 



First Corinthians 129 

heathenism it was the deepest and the blackest. A 
city of* vast commercial interests, of cosmopolitan popu- 
lation, with a culture of the thin veneer type, pleasure- 
loving, licentious to a degree that made the name 
"Corinthian" a synonym for "rake" even in those days, 
a city where religion was degraded to the service of 
vice, where priestesses were prostitutes and the pos- 
session of the smallest virtue was counted the greatest 
of crimes — Corinth stood as a type of that old-world 
civilization, from many standpoints fair to look upon, 
but in reality rotten at the heart! But even from such 
a miry pit Paul was able through the gospel of Christ 
to lift up many and set them on the solid foundation, 
put a new song into their mouths, and establish their 
goings! And we must never forget that it was to such 
people, with all their black past, that Paul was em- 
boldened to pen his heavenly portrayal of that love 
which "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all 
things, endures all things." Indeed, had not Paul's 
own heart first flamed with this divine passion, could 
he have ever even entered Corinth, much less worked 
there so long and so successfully, to say nothing of 
having the grace necessary to deal so lovingly with the 
delinquencies of this piggish and priggish congregation? 

Some Salient Teachings 

* For two reasons Paul's Corinthian correspondence 
has a clear claim upon our attention. In the first place, 
Paul is here preeminently the pastor. It is true that 
we call the letters to Timothy and Titus the pastoral 
epistles, and this is by no means a misnomer; but the 
fact remains that they are for the most part taken up 
with the details of pastoral duties enjoined upon pas- 
tors by an ot;er-pastor. In the Corinthian letter, how- 
ever, we have Paul himself as the pastor dealing with 
his own flock. Hence here we find the deep principles 
of the pastoral relation stated with a clearness nowhere 
else reached; we have the apostolic office set forth and 
9 



130 Life and Letters of Paul 

the mutual obligations of pastor and people insisted 
upon with an eloquence and urgency it would be hard 
to parallel. 

But as the Second Epistle to the Corinthians is the 
one which emphasizes this phase of Paul's thought so 
fully, we shall best postpone our attention to the pas- 
toral character of his correspondence till we take up 
that Epistle. In the meantime we may proceed to notice 
the second claim this correspondence with Corinth has 
upon our attention. This is found in the fact that 1 
Corinthians is of supreme importance from the stand- 
point of its doctrinal teaching. It is hardly possible for 
us to do anything more than take a brief glance at some 
of the salient features of its dogmatic content. 

In the first place, this Epistle within less than a 
generation of the death of Christ presents us with a 
full-orbed apostolic gospel. We have only to look at 
the first paragraph of the fifteenth chapter to discover 
what that wonderful word covers. Here we have stated 
without any shadow of hesitation, without any con- 
sciousness of offering anything novel, the fundamental 
postulates of the teaching of the early Church dating 
from the time Paul is writing back to the very dawn of 
that glorious resurrection morning when the joyful 
fact of a risen Lord was experienced by a penitent Peter. 
Here, Paul affirms, the gospel begins, and ends, at the 
side of an open tomb and in the presence of a living 
Lord! It is from this epochal experience as a fountain 
that there have gushed forth streams ever filling and 
ever flowing for the quickening and refreshing of the 
race. Consequently the person of Christ is of supreme 
importance in this Epistle. He is the one Foundation, 
and other foundation can no man lay; through him are 
all things, and therefore let all lesser names — Paul, 
Apollos, Cephas — fall to their proper level before Him 
whose name is above every name! Paul's teaching on 
the Holy Spirit sounds true and clear in this Epistle. 
Particularly is this seen in the twelfth chapter, where 



First Corinthians 131 

he discusses the various gifts which the Spirit dis- 
tributes to the various members of the household of 
faith. He is the medium of all true spiritual enlighten- 
ment, the applier of the work of Christ to the heart and 
life of the believer, and is the possession of all who 
have the Lord Jesus. 

The Epistle contains definite teaching with regard to 
the Lord's Supper, glancing as it does both at its in- 
stitution at the hands of Christ and at its prostitution 
at the hands of the Corinthians (xi. 23, 24). Baptism 
is assumed as the rite by which entrance is had into 
the Church; but chapter i., verse 17, gives Paul's posi- 
tion with regard to it and shows that he at least never 
made a hobby of it, believing his work to be something 
more spiritual than merely receiving candidates for 
Church fellowship. Again, this Epistle contains Paul's 
most elaborate discussion of the resurrection of believ- 
ers that we have from his pen, and doubtless this elo- 
quent paean of hope for humanity will never in all the 
literature of the ages be paralleled in the matter of the 
solid solace it affords to the grief-stricken souls of men 
as they commit to the grave the mortal remains of 
their beloved dead. Men have been dying all through 
the millenniums every moment of time, and are still 
passing away into the silence and the darkness of the 
grave; but it is only where Paul's First Epistle to the 
Corinthians is known and read that this silence is 
broken by the glad announcement, "This mortal must 
put on immortality," and this darkness is dispelled by 
the joyful proclamation: "Now is Christ risen from the 
dead and become the first fruits of them that slept" 

But it is in the sphere of personal Christian life that 
this Epistle is especially rich. The individual Christian 
is to be dominated by a great principle, the great prin- 
ciple of the gospel — love. This is the principle through 
which and in which he is to fulfill all law. This is 
the "more excellent way," far transcending knowledge 
and even surpassing faith and hope. These may be- 



132 Life and Letters of Paul 

come obsolete. As faith loses itself in sight and hope 
comes to full fruition, these will become candidates for 
"honorable superannuation"; hut love never ceaseth. 
It is as enduring as God, it is God; and as long as men 
live with God and in God and for God, so long will love 
thrive and grow and sway their souls with its uplifting 
and purifying power. 

And this is not only to be the attitude of men toward 
God, but love is to rule in all our relations to our fellows. 
It is the only bond for the social order. No element in 
society can despise any other element. The head cannot 
do without the foot, nor can the eye disdain the ear. 
Mutual esteem and mutual respect must govern; love 
must reign, especially to the weak. Is the question 
with regard to eating meat? While pride in one's own 
strength and self-sufficiency may dictate one answer, 
the response of love is entirely different: "I will eat 
no meat while the world stands, lest I make my brother 
to offend!" Self-interest may emphasize one's rights, 
but love will frequently forego rights in order that 
other men may be blessed; and so throughout the 
Epistle this magic new creation of Christ, this love, 
runs like a golden melody, binding all the chords of 
life in one harmony of purpose and of power, that in 
the concluding sections (xvi. 14, xvi. 22, xvi. 24) is 
summed up in the threefold cadence: "Let all that ye 
do be done in love"; "If any man love not the Lord 
Jesus"; "My love be with you all in Christ Jesus." 

1. What do you know of the city of Corinth? 

2. What made it a strategic point? 

3. When did Paul go there, and how long did he stay? 

4. At what time and place was this first Epistle writ- 
ten? What texts prove this? 

5. What was the occasion of its writing? 

6. What had he heard and from whom in regard to 
divisions and contentions in the Church? 

7. What truths does he teach of the relative impor- 
tance of Christ and his gospel and the heralds of the 



First Corinthians 133 

gospel? Do not some Churches to-day need the same 
lesson? 

8. What was the evil condition of the Church morally 
and spiritually? Was it strange when its environment 
is considered? 

9. What authority did Paul take as a pastor to judge 
the sin of his members and to comfort them? 

10. What great doctrine is taught in this Epistle in 
regard to the resurrection? 

11. What is taught in regard to the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper? 

12. What is taught in regard to baptism? 

13. What is taught in regard to spiritual gifts? 

14. Which did Paul say was the greatest, and why? 

15. Can you repeal the thirteenth chapter? Do you 
try to live it? 



XVI. SECOND CORINTHIANS— THE HEART 

OF AN APOSTLE 

Introduction. — Such in truth must be the characteri- 
zation of the letter of Paul we now take up. For there 
is no writing from his pen, not even Galatians, that so 
clearly presents to us the every mood of Paul's soul. In 
the words of the great German scholar Weizacker, "The 
letter is from beginning to end one of mood; but the 
mood, far from being identical, varies constantly. And 
yet there is neither vacillation nor contradiction. As 
each is roused and warranted by circumstances, so he 
remains master of all. He throws his whole being into 
every emotion, and he is always the same." Another 
feature noticeable in the letter is the ease with which 
Paul's pen glides from the particular matter in hand to 
the universal principle involved. The very smallest 
matter mentioned carries us back to the most ultimate 
laws of life. The taking of a collection (chapter ix.) 
is sowing for eternity, and money must be given to the 
cause of the kingdom in the glorious light of Calvary, 
where God's Unspeakable Gift is disclosed. 

We cannot help glancing at some of the efforts scholars 
have put forth in straightening out the tangle of Paul's 
correspondence with the Corinthian Church; and while 
the purpose of our present study is not critical, still we 
can frequently get more practical benefit by starting 
with the results some critics have worked out. Of 
course we need not accept these results without further 
investigation. The first thing we note in this particular 
is that probably in our 2 Corinthians we have in reality 
two epistles or major parts thereof. For many years 
many readers have noticed the remarkable change of 
tone in the section from the tenth chapter to the tenth 
verse of the thirteenth chapter. The tone of mingled 
(134) 



Second Corinthians 135 

sarcasm, severity, and sorrow detected easily in these 
paragraphs suggests the idea that this may indeed be 
the painful letter referred to in 2 Corinthians ii. 3, 4. 
If this be true, then it is better to read this section be- 
fore we take up the remaining part, as it is then an 
intermediate letter sent between our 1 and 2 Corinthians. 
In our study of 1 Corinthians we noted that that letter 
was not the first message Paul had sent to them; for 
in the ninth verse of the fifth chapter of that writing 
he evidently refers to another missive — now lost. 

Our tentative reconstruction of the correspondence he 
had with that Church would be somewhat after the fol- 
lowing order: 

1. A letter referred to in 1 Corinthians v. 9 — now lost. 
Possibly we have a stray leaf from this in 2 Corinthians 
vi. 14-vii. 1. 

2. The letter we know as 1 Corinthians. 

3. An intermediate, sharp letter, possibly part of 
which is now included in 2 Corinthians x.-xiii. 10. 

4. The letter we know as 2 Corinthians i.-ix. 
Naturally other schemes are presented and clamor 

for the acceptance of students. But we stop with this 
as one of the simplest— especially as, I think, it really 
helps us in the understanding of our present lesson. 
We content ourselves with giving a brief analysis of 
this intermediate letter known as "The Great Invective" 
(2 Cor. x.-xiii. 10): 

1. Chapter x. is occupied with a vindication of his 
mission and of himself against his opponents, who were 
more influential in Corinth than perhaps anywhere else. 

2. Chapter xi., from verse 1 through verse 6, constitutes 
a defense of his sincerity, 

3. The same chapter in its next paragraph (vs. 7-15) 
calls their attention to the fact that he had served 
them freely as a preacher — even "robbing" other church- 
es so to do. 

4. The section xi. 16-xii. 10 is a splendid illustration 
of "senseless" boasting — sarcastic in part and yet most 



136 Life and Letters of Paul 

precious, as it gives us a vivid picture of what Paul was 
willing to pay for the privilege of preaching Christ. 
He reaches the climax of his boasting when he exults 
in his infirmity — the thorn in the flesh. 

5. The letter continues with a final appeal (xii. 11-18), 
where he shows the heart of a loving, tender father 
grieving over his wayward children and calls atten- 
tion to the fact that neither he nor his representative 
Titus has taken any advantage of them. 

6. The closing warning and remonstrance (xii. 19-xiii. 
10) is thoroughly characteristic of Paul. He tells them 
that he is coming now to pay them a third visit — he 
beseeches them to right things, that when he does come 
he may not have to deal severely. 

The fourth letter then (our 2 Corinthians) dates 
from Macedonia a little later and has as its two great 
outstanding features: 

1. Paul as an Apostle (including chapters i. 12-vii. 16). 

2. The Collection (chapters viii., ix.). 

Paul as an Apostle 

The letter opens (i. 1-11) with Paul's usual epistolary 
salutation, in which he announces his apostleship 
through Christ and wishes for the Corinthians grace 
and peace from God the Father. The next paragraph 
he devotes to personal explanations, giving at a glance 
the condition of mind and heart his separation from 
them had plunged him in. So great was the strain of 
anxiety that he was ill — nigh unto death — yea, he was 
verily dead by reason of the weight of the woe he had 
in their behalf! Next comes (vs. 12-22) a clear vindi- 
cation of his sincerity of love and an explanation of his 
not having reached them. It is not true, as his enemies 
aver, that "fickleness" is the cause; but the real reason 
is that he forbore to visit Corinth out of a desire to 
spare them. Then (ii. 1-3) he refers to the painful let- 
ter and tells them that if its reception caused them 
tears, its writing caused him all the more sorrow. 



Second Corinthians 137 

Then (ii. 5-11) he adverts to the case of the individual 
who had so grossly insulted him and outraged the fair 
fame and name of the Church of Christ in terms which 
show that the Corinthians had meted out to him due 
and even extreme punishment, so that now Paul calls 
a halt and appeals to them to ratify their love to him. 
After this section, which is introductory and explana- 
tory, the writer begins in ii. 12 his exposition of 

The Ministry of an Apostle 

In the first place, an apostle is one tied to Christ's 
triumphal car (ii. 14), one who is a very fragrance 
from Christ (15), one who feels his own unworthi- 
ness for such a high office, one who is not caught in 
the current of the crowd and led to adulterate the Word 
of God. 

Prom this high plane of his apostolic vocation, Paul 
begins to consider the Corinthians themselves. They 
are his "letters," his work executed in Christ. They 
(Christians) are the real epistles he is writing. In 
this ministry whose joy it is to write on tablets that 
are hearts of flesh he is wont to glory; for if the old- 
time ministry had a splendor that shone from Sinai's 
summit, much more of splendor attends him who works 
in the light and under the inspiration of Calvary. This 
is the ministry that transfigures; the veil is upon all 
who do not see the Light of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ. But those that stand in that sacred presence 
with unveiled faces are transformed into his image 
from splendor to splendor. Therefore Paul never loses 
heart (iv. 1). The gospel that can save him — narrow 
Pharisee, cold-blooded persecutor that he was — can save 
any and every one who does not willfully or wickedly 
put out his eyes. For his theme is not himself, but 
Christ his Lord. 

But the outworking of such a ministry means a great 
deal of hardship and sacrifice; hence our next division 
takes up iv. 6-v. 10. 



138 Life and Letters of Paul 

The Sufferings of an Apostle 

It is with shame and self-rebuke that we read such 
a section as this; for it tells a story of heroism and 
self-sacrifice for Christ's sake that none of us has ever 
tasted, and yet the sound of joy and praise is through 
it all. It brings out the devotion of Paul's heart, but 
it also illustrates the sufficiency of the Saviour. Paul 
could have sung: 

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares 

I have already come; 
'Tis Christ has brought me safe thus far, 
And Christ will lead me home." 

And after he has strung out his list of sufferings, with 
a glance at the other side of the ledger of his life he 
calmly waves them all aside with the word: "The mo- 
ment's light distress results for us in an eternal weight 
of glory." 
In v. 11-vi. 10 we have sketched vividly for us 

An Apostle's Life, 

Where the innermost springs of motive are laid bare 
to the eyes of God. The impelling power is the love 
of Christ; the fact that he died means that men are in 
a desperate condition. Dead they are in trespasses and 
sins; but if they can hear the voice of the Lord of life, 
they shall live again, and then not unto themselves, but 
unto him that died for them and rose again. 

A royal personage, ambassador of Christ, the apostle 
is. His life is invested with a dignity far surpassing 
what would appear from a surface glance. The proofs 
of such a ministry he can supply, and then enumerates 
(vi. 4-10) with characteristic eloquence how it is that 
a man may be "as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as 
poor, yet making many rich." 

Chapter vi. 11-vii. 16 constitutes what we may call an 
epilogue to his first and major section. Here he makes 



Second Corinthians 139 

his final appeal to them to be true to Christ (vi. 11- 
vii. 1); and to be true to their former love for him and 
Titus, concluding with the expressed conviction that 
they are going to give him confidence in everything 
(vii. 2-16). 

The Coming Collection 

Little need be said about this second main division 
of the letter. Suffice it to say that Paul brings to bear 
all the grace and wisdom he has in the matter of 
money-getting. A great example he is for us in this 
regard. He ever gives the loftiest incentive. Here, 
therefore, when he would spring this Corinthian Church 
to Christian giving, he sets before them first of all the 
inspiring example of the Macedonian Churches, who in 
the midst of great distress had even gone beyond their 
means and of their own free will had besought him for 
the favor of participating in this ministration to the 
saints at Jerusalem. They actually gave themselves; 
and yet even this is not the whole leverage Paul ap- 
plies to lift the money out of the pockets of these peo- 
ple. Prom earth he goes to heaven; from Macedon 
to the great Master and Lord of all, who, though he 
was rich, became poor that they might be made rich. 
Such are the inspiring examples of generosity he cites. 

But he does not stop here. He takes occasion to un- 
fold the great principle of liberality and the issues in- 
evitably involved in following out this principle (ix. 
6-15), concluding the whole appeal with a glance at God 
the great Giver, as he shows to an amazed universe the 
depths of his beneficent love in Christ the Lord. 

And so at the foot of the cross and in the light it 
sheds on the nature of God and the need of men, "Paul 
closes this wonderful exposition of his own heart pur- 
poses and inspirations with the concluding exhortation 
(xiii. 11-13): "Farewell. Be at harmony, be encouraged, 
be of the same mind, be at peace." Then comes the sal- 
utation of the saints of Macedon — Northern Greece sa- 



140 Life and Letters of Paul 

luting Southern Greece in the name of Jesus — and this 
epistle, so full of feeling, of passion, of severity, and at 
times of sarcasm, yet all the while full of the very 
heart and soul of Paul, closes with those significant 
words that the consensus of Christendom has recog- 
nized as the fittest when Christians say farewell — the 
apostolic benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the 
Holy Spirit, be with you all." 

1. What term may be applied to this Epistle to the 
Corinthians? The apostle was also the pastor. 

2. What indications are there that a part of this epis- 
tle may have been an intermediary epistle between it 
and what is known as 1 Corinthians? 

3. How many epistles to the Corinthians would this 
give us? 

4. In chapter x. how does he vindicate himself against 
his influential, slanderous opponents? 

5. What does he say of his sincerity (xi. 1-6)? 

6. Of the free service he rendered them (xi. 7-15)? 

7. What do we learn from Paul's sarcastic, "foolish" 
boasting of the price he was willing to pay for the priv- 
ilege of preaching Christ? What lesson as regards in- 
firmities (xi. 16-xii. 10)? 

8. Had he or Titus taken advantage of them (xii. 
11-18)? 

9. What is his closing warning and remonstrance 
(xi. 19-xiii. 10)? 

10. When and where was this intermediary letter prob- 
ably written? 

11. When and where was what may be called the 
fourth epistle written (our 2 Corinthians)? 

12. How did Paul's loving anxiety as to the welfare 
of the Corinthian Church affect him, and how does he 
explain his absence? 

13. What does he say of the pain he felt in writing 
that painful letter to them and of their treatment of 
the person who had slandered him (ii. 1-11)? 

14. What does Paul say of his ministry as an apostle 
and of them as the fruits of that ministry (ii. 12-iv. 5)? 

15. What does he tell of the sufferings and hardships 
of an apostle? How does he value them? What lesson 



Second Corinthians 141 

of rebuke does our complaint as workers for Christ find 
here (iv. 6-v. 10)? 

16. Give a sketch of an apostle's life as pictured in 
v. 11-vi. 10. May this not be applied to Christian lead- 
ers to-day? 

17. What appeal does Paul make to them to be true 
to Christ and to himself and Titus (vi. 11-vii. 16)? 

18. Describe Paul's method of securing a collection 
from the Corinthian Church. What example of liber- 
ality does he give? What of Christ's example (viii., 
ix.)? 

19. What are Paul's concluding words (xiii. 11-13)? 



XVII. ROMANS I.- VIII. 

Scripture Material. — As Romans is such a profound 
attempt to portray the fundamental principles of Chris- 
tianity, it is necessary, if we are to get the best out of 
this study, to divide the Epistle into three portions. The 
logical division is at the close of the eighth chapter, 
for there the apostle concludes the positive or con- 
structive section of his appeal. These eight chapters, 
then, will be the matter that will occupy our present 
attention. Two chapters a week is no small amount 
if carefully read, analyzed, and studied. 

Introduction. — In order to get the state of mind the 
apostle was in at the time he wrote this great Epistle, 
we simply turn to the fifteenth chapter, and there sev- 
eral points are clearly brought to light. In the first 
place (verses 22, 23), he regrets that he has been hin- 
dered from coming to them (see also i. 13), though he 
has attempted it "many times"; again, he tells them 
that now the way seems to be open (verse 23), as he 
has no more place in those parts for exercising his 
apostolic function; and as it is the part of an apostle to 
be a pioneer, he is striking out for new territory toward 
the west, and on a voyage to Spain, which he is con- 
templating, he hopes to call by and see them at Rome. 
In the meanwhile, however, he is engaged in a ministry 
to Jerusalem — for the Gentile Churches of Europe, 
notably Macedonian and Achaian Christians, have been 
pleased to send an offering by his hands to the saints 
in the capital city of Christianity — and he cannot 
promise to come to them till this ministry has been 
accomplished. But a heavy anxiety broods over the 
heart of Paul; he knows not what awaits him in Jeru- 
salem; there are disobedient ones there; mayhap their 
cruel rage will work his death. Therefore he beseeches 
(142) 



Romans i.-viii. 143 

the Roman Christians to join him in agonizing prayer 
to God that his ministration to them may be successful 
and that he may be delivered and come unto them in 
joy through the will of God. 

The place of writing is got by referring to xvi. 22, 
23, where the names given locate the letter as emanating 
from Corinth. As to time, it was during the visit re- 
ferred to in Acts xx. 3, when he stayed "three months" 
in Greece, but was forced from that region by a plot on 
the part of the Jews. By giving due prominence to the 
implications of these verses, especially those in the 
fifteenth chapter, it is easy to see why the Epistle to the 
Romans is so comprehensive in its sweep and so profound 
in its grasp of the fundamental principles of Christi- 
anity. For it is surely the fullest fountain of Christian 
teaching we know. It has always been heralded as one 
of the greatest compositions in all the range of litera- 
ture. It has been called "The Cathedral of the Chris- 
tian Faith" and "the profoundest book in existence." 
The reason, so far as Paul is concerned, doubtless lies 
in the fact that, as far as he knew, this would be his 
last chance to tell the world what he knew of Christi- 
anity in the broad and high sense. He would make, 
then, this message a telling one; he would take this 
greatest theme, "The Gospel of Jesus Christ," and, grap- 
pling with it in the most masterful way, would send 
the product of his brain and heart to Rome, the greatest 
city in the world, and through this means reach the 
world with the message of his Master. And he was not 
mistaken, for it is through this Epistle that Christ and 
Paul have been reaching the world ever since. It was 
a verse from this Epistle that awoke the conscience of 
Augustine and transformed him from a vile sinner into 
a noble saint; it was the fundamental doctrine of this 
Epistle, "the just shall live by faith," that transformed 
Martin Luther from a monk into a spiritual monarch; 
it was by hearing read the preface that Luther wrote 
on this Epistle that the heart of John Wesley was 



144 Life and Letters of Paul 

"strangely warmed" and God started the pure flame of 
evangelical piety that has melted the frigidities of mere 
intellectualism and burnt to cinders the gaudy tinsel 
of ecclesiastical foppery. 

The fundamental idea of the first half of Romans is 
God's method of making men righteous, as revealed in 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the pursuit of this theme 
Paul elaborates four great themes which we shall study 
in our present lesson. These are: 

1. The Necessity for This Divine Righteousness (i.- 
iii. 20). 

2. The Provision of This Divine Righteousness (iii. 
21-30). 

3. The Relation of This Divine Righteousness to the 
Antecedent Revelation in Law and Prophecy (iii. 31- 
iv. 25). 

4. The Appropriation of the Righteousness of God in 
Personal Experience (v.-viii.). 

The Necessity for the Revelation of Divine Righteous- 
ness Made in the Gospel {i.-iii. 20) 

Paul is certainly logical in his method of argumenta- 
tion adopted in Romans. After a salutation more 
lengthy than usual and one that is really the text for 
the whole letter, he at once dismisses in a few words 
all personal matters relating to himself and his readers 
and plunges at full speed into the first proposition he 
sets forth. He is at Corinth while he writes this Epistle, 
and the first chapter is hardly more than a pen sketch 
of the unutterable wickedness of that horrid hell hole 
of ancient heathenism. We are not to suppose that the 
apostle's imagination gets the better of his judgment, 
even though he writes thus. The horrible condition of 
the moral life of heathendom is too well attested from 
the pages of pagan writers for us to chide Paul with 
being oversevere. The awful need for something is 
thrust home to the apostle as in Corinth he gazes with 
utmost horror at the ravages which sin has made in 



Romans i.-viii. 145 

human society. He recounts the failure of mere natural 
religion. Men start on a high plane; they may know 
God. But the fact is they do not use their opportunity; 
they abuse it, and soon the downward tendency begins, 
and so they fall from God to men, from men to birds, 
from birds to beasts, and from beasts to serpents. They 
refused the light of the stars, and now they grovel in 
the darkness of the dust. They gave God neither glory 
nor gratitude, and so their foolish heart was darkened. 
A process of moral petrifaction set in, and this soon 
developed into a condition of moral putrefaction. Then 
passion, with all its hell-born fury, ran riot, and the 
chapter closes with a catalogue of crime that makes one 
shudder to read it. This is Paul's indictment of the 
heathen world. Surely they need righteousness; all 
they have is rottenness, only faintly alleviated by the 
possession of some sort of a conscience whose sting 
they can sometimes feel, but whose suggestions they 
can hardly ever follow. 

The other section of the race — the Jews — ought to be 
in a far better condition, and from an external stand- 
point they are. But when Paul begins to probe beneath 
the surface he finds what Jesus found, "Whited sepul 
chers full of dead men's bones." The horror of the, Jew's 
position is that he has a higher law and a brighter light, 
but he has sinned woefully against both. Yea, he has 
become a stumbling-block to the very Gentile whom he 
claims to guide and teach. So the apostle concludes 
this section of his Epistle with the all-inclusive indict- 
ment: "All have sinned." The whole race stands guilty 
before God. Every mouth is stopped in mute confession 
of failure, thorough and inevitable. Man is lost, the 
race is ruined; all is gone unless God steps in and 
speaks the saving word. 

The Provision of Divine Righteousness (Hi. 21-30) 

This God does in the gospel. The gospel — "good news 
concerning Jesus Christ" — is God's response to man's 
10 



146 Life and Letters of Paid 

need. A revelation has been made apart from law, but 
witnessed to by both law and prophets, and this reve- 
lation centers about the all-inclusive fact, "all have 
sinned," and has as its source the grace of God, as its 
channel Jesus Christ, and as its destination "all them 
that believe." Its content will be worked out in terms 
of experience when it is appropriated by the individual 
heart. But Paul stops long enough at this point to in- 
dicate that there are certain salient features of the gos- 
pel message which are forever important and which, if 
forgotten or tabooed, will eternally eviscerate the evan- 
gel as he understands it. One of these is the propitia- 
tory function of Christ; another is the demonstration 
of God's righteousness; another is the fundamental prob 
lem that must be faced: How can God be just and at 
the same time justify the man who exercises faith in 
Jesus? The very nature of God demands one method 
for all; else there were two Gods, one for Jews and 
another for Gentiles. The very need of men demands 
one method for all. Sin has leveled all to the same 
abysmal depth of need. Faith is the only lever that will 
lift all to the high heights of holiness before God. 
There is no distinction unless Paul satirically hints 
that there is some difference between "by" and "through." 
(Verse 30.) 

The Relation of the Divine Righteousness to Antecedent 

Revelation {Hi. 31-iv. 25) 

Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the 
law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to 
fulfill," and surely if it be his gospel the same principle 
must hold true. The message of Paul, then, is not the 
annihilation of the old, but its completion and rehabili- 
tation. What are we to say with regard to Abraham? 
Why, says Paul, when we get back there and scrutinize 
that old story of God's friendship with that man, we 
find that the foundation of that relationship then, as 
now, was trust. It was because Abraham believed God 



Romans i.-viii. 147 

that he came to be what he was; the promise antedates 
the law, and faith is the primal bond that unites God 
and man. The declaration of David is also to the same 
effect. He announces the blessedness of the pardoned 
heart; but pardon, if it has any meaning at all, con- 
notes grace. Only in our mechanical and wicked modern 
absence of righteousness is there any such thing as a 
purchased pardon. In God's vocabulary these are con- 
tradictory terms. So the argument of Paul is con- 
clusive. In the very nature of the case the gospel is 
witnessed to by this antecedent revelation. But more, 
when we come to look at the historical narrative, we 
find this a priori conception confirmed, for the bare 
statement of the case is sufficient to show that all that 
Abraham got he got while he was in uncircumcision, 
and the rite was instituted as an external sign and 
seal of what had already taken place between the soul 
of the man and God himself. It was then trust, confi- 
dence, faith, no visible outward badge, but an invisible, 
inward grace that Abraham's relation to God was based 
upon. This was the strength of the man who, without 
oeing weakened in faith, considered his own body as 
dead and the deadness of Sarah's womb, looked unto the 
promise and waxed mighty through faith, giving glory 
to God. He is thus the progenitor of all the faithful, 
the father of all that believe. He it was that rejoiced 
to see Christ's day — a day that would usher in the gos- 
pel of grace, when all the world would ring with the 
jubilant cry: "He that believeth shall be saved." 

The Appropriation of the Righteousness of God in Per- 
sonal Experience (v.-viii.) 

This passage is far too long for anything more than 
a casual treatment of the chief topics it contains. For- 
tunately the chapter divisions are fairly accurate, and 
we shall follow them. The subsections arer 

1. Chapter 5. Righteousness by Faith — Its Blissful 
Consequences, 



148 Life and Letters of Paul 

2. Chapter 6. The Mystical Union with Christ. 

3. Chapter 7. The Inward Conflict. 

4. Chapter 8. Life in the Spirit. 

1. Chapter five starts with an enumeration of the 
blissful consequences of justification by faith, and what 
a splendid list of blessings is given! Peace, access to 
God, joy, hope — these all and more, for it is a joy that 
irradiates tribulation itself, and then come the gradual 
stages of character formation and transformation, ulti- 
mately leading to the conviction that if when we were 
sinners Christ died for us, much more now that we have 
been reconciled by his death we shall be saved through 
his life as it flows by faith through our life. The second 
part of chapter five (verses 12-21) institutes a great 
comparison and contrast between the racial relation of 
Christ and Adam. From each flow great streams of in- 
fluence to the human family: from Adam, sin and death; 
from Christ, righteousness and life. The argument is 
a fortiori. "If by the trespass of one death reigned 
through the one, much more shall they that receive the 
abundance of grace reign in life through the one, even 
Christ Jesus." 

2. Chapter six gives in clear language Paul's concep- 
tion of the union that should exist between the Chris- 
tian and his Lord. The three great epochal events in 
Christ's life are his death, his burial, and his resurrec- 
tion. These are reproduced in the life experience of 
every one that is united to Christ by faith. For faith 
as Paul uses it here means a trust of soul so constant 
and strong that it makes for identification of will. 
Hence he argues that just as Christ died to sin when 
he expired on the cross, just so the believer in Christ 
must die to sin, so that it shall no longer excite any 
response in his soul; and just as Christ was buried in 
the grave, so the one who believes in Jesus and evidences 
his belief by submitting to the rite of Christian bap- 
tism is buried to self; and just as Christ rose again 
from the dead and came forth clothed in the garments 



Romans i.-viii. 149 

of immortality, so the man who is identified by faith 
with Christ rises in newness of life through the energiz- 
ing power of the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from 
the dead. This is Paul's protest against the error of 
antinomianism. How can we sin if we are one with 
Christ, the sinless one? How can we violate law in the 
name of the gospel? Therefore, he concludes, present 
your members as servants of righteousness unto sancti- 
fication, for the wages of sin is death, but God's gift in 
Christ Jesus is eternal life. 

3. The seventh chapter presents the most vivid pic- 
ture of the struggle of the soul known to literature. 
Three stages are glimpsed. The first (verse 9) is the 
unmoral stage — the stage of innocence, blithesome and 
gay — before law has come or the sense of responsibility 
has been awakened. "I was alive, apart from law — 
once, 1 ' and the position of that "once" is pathetic in 
the extreme, as if the man's memory leaps over the 
years that separate him from the time of childhood's 
innocence and leaves him longing for that whilom blest 
estate. But this period did not last long. The second 
stage comes with quickness and with its coming brings 
the doom of heart despair. "The commandment came, 
sin revived [or sprang into life], and I died" (vii. 9). 
Then the mortal struggle of the moral life begins and 
is carried on with full intensity and ever-growing sense 
of final defeat until in the agony of despair the man is 
forced to cry out: "O wretch that I am! who shall de- 
liver?" This concludes the second stage. The third is 
brief, but glorious. Just as the man is about to sink 
into the abysm of despair Christ appears, and all danger 
and gloom disappear. "I thank God through Jesus 
Christ." Deliverance has come through the Crucified 
One, and now in the next section the sequel to this 
marvelous salvation through grace is given under 

4. Chapter 8 — Life in the Spirit. Here all is cleared 
up. What law could not do love has gloriously achieved. 
"The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made 



150 Life and Letters of Paul 

me free from the law of sin and of death." Now it is 
incumbent upon me to walk in newness of life, led by 
the Spirit. Our debt is not to the flesh to live after 
the flesh, but our duty is to mortify the deeds of the 
flesh and live after the Spirit. The Spirit is our helper 
in time of infirmity, in time of prayer, in every time 
of need. He it is that brings the joyful news of pardon, 
spreads the balm of peace, and whispers into our ears 
the wondrous message of our adoption into the family 
of God. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth 
be removed. God is in the midst of us, in our very 
hearts, and lives by reason of his indwelling Spirit. 
What, then, shall or can separate us from him that is 
Immanuel — God with us? If sin, the foulest thing in 
his universe, failed to withstand the leap of his love, 
will anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath 
or in the waters under the earth? Nay, we are per- 
suaded that in all these things — death, life, tribulation, 
anguish, nakedness — in all these and ten thousand more 
such things we are persuaded by the impelling logic of 
divine love as demonstrated on the cross; we are per- 
suaded that in all these things we are more than con- 
querors through Him that loved us and gave Himself 
for us. 

1. Give date when and place where Romans was 
written. 

2. State clearly the mental attitude of the apostle at 
the time of writing. 

3. Give some indication of the importance of Rome as 
a center of Christianity. 

4. What are some of the reasons why the Epistle to 
the Romans is so important? 

5. Give the general subject discussed in the Epistle 
and the two large divisions of the letter. 

6. Name the four general themes discussed in the 
first eight chapters. 

7. Show how Paul maintains his argument for the 
necessity for the gospel of Christ. 

8. Write a character study of the average Jew of 
Paul's day, using Romans ii. 17-29. 



Romans i.-viii. 151 

9. What is the fundamental relation of the new dis- 
pensation to all antecedent revelation? 

10. Enumerate some specific results of justification by 
faith which come from no other source. 

11. Trace in outline the relation of Christ to the race 
as given in v. 12-21. 

12. What is Paul's conception of union with Christ? 
Are you trying to realize it? 

13. Should the gospel make us lawless, or obedient to 
law? 

14. Outline the story of soul struggle as given in 
chapter seven. Have you been engaged in such a con- 
flict? Are you a victor or a victim? 

15. Show the power of the Spirit in the life of the 
individual Christian. 

16. Didst thou receive the Holy Spirit when thou be- 
lievedst? (See Acts xix. 1-7.) 



XVIII. ROMANS IX.-XI. 

Introduction. — Two important sections still remain 
for our consideration in the Epistle to the Romans, but 
only one of these can we consider in this chapter. We 
may well believe that the positive, constructive portion 
ends with the great climax at the close of chapter viii. 
Paul has in this great division traversed the whole range 
of natural and revealed religion, showing successively 
and successfully how far the first fails and how fully 
the latter, culminating in Christ, fills the requirements 
of both God and man. But however sufficient this is for 
purposes of instruction, there was one problem pre- 
sented by the impact of Christianity in the world's his- 
tory that he could not fail to glance at if he was to 
completely consider the great theme of God's redeem- 
ing purpose in history. This problem was a historic, 
not a dogmatic, one and arose from the simple fact that 
now since Christianity had been launched it appeared 
that the center of gravity had shifted, that God's pur- 
pose was leaving the chosen Jewish nation and finding 
expression in the new and hitherto unused channel of 
Gentile peoples. This was a staggering thought to the 
Jewish Christian and was an argument in the case of 
the un-Christian Jew to discount the claim Christianity 
set up for his credence. The argument ran thus: God's 
word was that the Israelites should be the Messianic 
people; the facts to-day warrant us in asserting that 
Israel has rejected Christianity; therefore one of two 
things follows — either God's word has failed or Chris- 
tianity is not what its heralds proclaim. It was this 
latter argument, of course, that the majority of unbe- 
lieving Jews took. They would have none of Paul's 
message because, as they vainly said, it carried its con- 
demnation in the potent fact that the nation of Israel 
had as a nation rejected its claim. This nation was 
(152) 



Romans ix.-xi. 153 

God's chosen people. God's chosen people would not 
reject God's Messiah; they rejected Jesus of Nazareth; 
therefore the Nazarene was not the Christ! 

To this problem Paul gives three chapters, and the 
discussion naturally divides itself into three main propo- 
sitions: 

1. In chapter ix. Paul goes to show that God's word 
has not failed, or, in other words, he shows that all 
along God's choices of channels through which his reve- 
lation is to come is at all times free and unrestricted 
by any claim of merit that men, even Jews, can set 
forth. 

2. In chapter x. Paul sets forth clearly the real rea- 
son why Israel has been rejected and passed by in the 
onward sweep of the Messianic movement. The reason 
is not in any desertion on the part of God of his promise, 
but rather lies in the faithlessness of the nation Itself. 

3. In chapter xi. Paul turns from the gloomy present, 
where rejected Israel is ruthlessly lamenting her sad 
lot and he himself is shedding tears and bewailing the 
fate of his faithless fellow Israelites. He turns from 
all this sad present to the distant future and sees that 
it is radiant with a great and ever-glowing gleam of 
hope, and in the glory of that gaze the apostle reaches 
another great climax in the grand doxology that closes 
chapter xi. Let us notice now these three chapters 
more in detail,- recollecting that nothing in any one of 
them is to be interpreted apart from all that is in the 
whole section and recalling also that this is not the 
main section in Romans, though a subsidiary one of 
transcendent importance to Paul's own time and the 
necessities of his own heart questionings. 

The Sovereignty of God (Chapter ix.) 

The opening verses of chapter ix. constitute one of 
the most passionate and pathetic paragraphs Paul ever 
penned. The contrast between them and the last verses 
of the preceding chapter is most emphatic. There he had 



154 Life and Letters of Paul 

avowed that nothing in heaven above or in the earth 
beneath could separate him from the love of God in 
Christ, and here he says: "I could wish myself accursed 
from Christ." This is, of course, not the language of 
cold logic, but rather that of consuming love. It is 
called forth by the evident contrast between what his 
brethren according to the flesh have been and what they 
now are. They were once intrusted with the oracles of 
God, as he has elaborated in chapter iii. when he began 
this enumeration of their prerogatives: they were the 
ones God had adopted from all the nations of the earth 
and called his children; they had a "glory" far tran- 
scending that which shone on the heights of the Athe- 
nian Acropolis or flashed from the seven-peaked crown 
of Rome, the martial mistress of the world; it was 
they who had had committed to them the "covenants"; 
they and they only had a Sinai in their history where 
God's law had touched earth in visible expression; they 
had a temple "service" that for elaborateness and ex- 
quisiteness in symbolizing spiritual realities far sur- 
passed any that could be found around heathen fanes; 
they also, and they only, had those rich pledges and 
promises which made them the nation into whose keep- 
ing had been intrusted the very character of God; they 
also had the "fathers" — Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, 
and all the rest — names more potent than the roll call 
of any other people can present. And, to cap the climax, 
from them according to the flesh had come the Christ, 
who is the crowning glory that sheds its sheen over all 
the rest, thank God. For such a people to be outcasts 
now is tragedy too terrible to be passed over in silence; 
therefore Paul sets himself resolutely to state the cause 
of their present condition. 

And, first of all, it is not because God's word has 
failed. For proof of this chapter ix. is given to review- 
ing God's word to this people. "Not all are Israel who 
are of Israel" is the principle at work throughout their 
eventful history. "One is taken and another left." This 



Romans ix.-xi, 155 

is the rule that has governed hitherto, and out of their 
own Scripture Paul will condemn the Jew of his day 
who complains that in being shut out of the Messianic 
kingdom he is being wronged by the God of his fathers. 
The selective process begins to work at the very begin- 
ning of the nation's history. Abraham had two sons, 
but only one receives the promise; but lest the Jew 
should say, "Rightly, since Ishmael was a slave child," 
Paul hastens down to another generation and finds two 
sons of the same father and mother, and yet Jacob is 
chosen and Esau rejected. Another great crisis in their 
history depicts the same principle. Even Moses has no 
claim of right that he may prefer in God's presence. 
For the primal message to him was: "I will have mercy 
on whom I will." That is, God's choices are deter- 
mined by his own will, not by man's claim. Else he is 
not God, for even a visit to a potter's shop should tell 
us that the Creator has absolute right! Now, of course, 
Paul does not say that God does as the potter — God is 
more than a potter, and man is more than a pot. But 
if he should so choose to do, what could the Jewish ob- 
jector say in the light of the antecedent history of 
God's dealing with his people? But not only is history 
full of God's rejection of those who are technically 
children of Abraham; prophecy is full of the fact that 
seems to stagger so much the Jew of Paul's day, for 
there is clearly stated the inclusion of the Gentiles. 
Hosea is answer to his problem. A "no people" has be- 
come "my people"; a reading of Isaiah will clear up the 
mist, for he, with all his optimism, could never hope for 
more than a remnant of Israel to be saved; the rest 
would have to come from the outside. So the principle 
that is working to-day, says Paul, is the same that has 
been working ever. God's word is not failing; it is 
simply fulfilling itself. 

The conclusion from all this is that some other ex- 
planation of the present status of Judaism must be 
sought; and Paul finds it on earth and in the hearts of 



156 Life and Letters of Paul 

Israel. Gentiles "have arrived" or "got there," as we 
should say, because they sought in the right way; Jews 
have "got left" because they sought in the wrong way. 

Human Responsibility (.Chapter %.) 

But the very word "sought" suggests motive, purpose, 
and will. Here is where the question must be resolved, 
says Paul. Israel's zeal is unquestioned; but it has a 
selfish center; it is not "according to knowledge." It 
is blind and blinding. It misses the true goal right at 
hand; and it seeks an unnecessary and futile and far- 
away goal. It is so enamored of doing the big thing 
that it stumbles over the little thing. Moses would have 
taught them if they had only hearkened. No necessity 
to cross the seas, to go up into the heavens, to descend 
into the abyss — ths spectacular performances of legal- 
ism are not of avail here. The word of faith says: 
"It is nigh." "Confess with thy mouth, believe in thy 
heart." Ah, here is the easy way; but, easy as it is, it 
is all too hard for proud Pharisees to walk, but the 
publican makes great progress toward the kingdom as 
he follows its path. 

All conditions have been met in Israel's case. Preach- 
ers have been sent; the message has been delivered; 
they have heard with the ear; they could have believed; 
they could have called upon the name of the Lord; they 
could have been saved. But how stands the case? In 
spite of the beautiful path made radiant by the feet of 
those who preached glad tidings of good things, Isaiah 
has to record that these turned a deaf ear and others 
came into their joy: "I was found of them that sought 
me not." And God has to give vent to his grief in the sad 
lament: "All day long did I spread forth my hands to a 
disobedient and gainsaying Israel." 

The Consolation (Chapter xi.) 

But is there no consolation for such a condition? 
Much, says Paul, in the eleventh chapter. In the first 



Romans ia\-xi. 157 

place, the rejection of Israel is only partial, not total 
He starts with his own case as proof in point. "I too 
am an Israelite" and a Christian. This suggests the 
answer to Elijah's doubt; and as Paul looks toward 
Jerusalem, Thessalonica, Philippi, Ephesus, and espe- 
cially round about him at Corinth, he sees the seven 
thousand and more that gladden his heart, Jews 
though they are, inclosed in the Christian fold. (Chap- 
ter xi. 1-10.) But more, this rejection is not only par- 
tial; it has in it a divine overruling providence (vs. 
11-24). The fact of the business is, says Paul, if the 
Jews have rejected the Gospel, this very fact has made 
possible the Gentile incoming. This gives the Gentile 
no ground for foolish boasting; but it does afford a 
basis for hope that when the time comes the true 
branches will again be grafted in; and this leads to the 
third point, that when the fullness of the Gentiles has 
come, then this "hardening in part" will have done its 
work, and "all Israel shall be saved." "For God's gifts 
and calling are not to be repented of." If the Gentiles, 
who were once so outrageously disobedient, have had 
mercy shown them, shall not Israel's God have mercy 
for Israel too? So Paul's line of least resistance to con- 
vert the Jew is to convert the Gentile, and it was his 
faith that when the "Gentiles" had accepted Christ the 
"Jews" would come in and be the fullest and truest 
illustration of a nation's being born in a day. So in 
the glory of the coming time when this universal gospel 
shall have included in its embrace both Jew and Gen- 
tile — leveling all to the common plane of a sinful hu- 
manity, but lifting all to the common plane of a complete 
redemption — Paul concludes this second section of his 
letter. No wonder, as he has sought to track the foot- 
prints of God down the centuries and through the races 
of earth, he concludes with the confession of his own 
ignorance: "His ways are past tracing out." History 
without Christ is a mazy wilderness with no clew to 
its labyrinthine gloom; and human life without Christ 



158 Life and Letters of Paul 

is an engima in its origin and in its destiny a dubious 
experiment. For "all history is mystery till read as His 
story." 

1. What three divisions are made in our study of the 
book of Romans? 

2. What great lesson did we learn in the first division 
as to the breadth of Christ's redemption? State both 
sides of the argument as presented by Paul. 

3. What does he teach in chapter ix. in regard to the 
sovereignty of God? 

4. Has he not the power as well as right to reject and 
accept nations and individuals? 

5. What does Paul teach in chapter x. as to man's re- 
sponsibility? 

6. Was not Israel's rejection of God and his will the 
cause of Israel's rejection by God? Does not this apply 
to individual rejection to-day? 

7. Was not the acceptance of the Gentiles based upon 
the acceptance by the Gentiles of the will of God? 

8. What great hope is set before Israel in chapter xi., 
and upon what is it based? 

9. Can we not hold forth this same hope to all who 
may have rejected or fallen from grace to-day if they 
turn in repentance and faith to God? 

10 Can we understand anything of the origin, history, 
or destiny of human life without Christ as the key to 
the problem? 



XIX. ROMANS XH.-XVI. 

Introduction. — Paul has now concluded the doctrinal 
section of his greatest letter. "But the real sermon be- 
gins when the exhortation begins." So we now have 
the practical portion of this writing introduced by the 
word "therefore." These hortatory sections of the New 
Testament writings are indeed some of the most precious 
paragraphs we have; their very nature, however, pre- 
cludes much logical distribution of matter. Still in 
the present instance we may venture the following 
analysis of the five remaining chapters of Romans: 
The Threefold Demand (xii.); The Christian and His 
Various Relationships (xiii., xiv.); The Mind of the 
Master and Its Manifestation (xv.); Salutations and 
Recapitulation (xvi.). 

The Threefold Demand 

This threefold demand begins with the exhortation, 
"Present your bodies a living sacrifice." If the range 
of the Christian movement is one that takes in all his- 
tory, embraces all mankind, and contemplates the vic- 
tory over all evil and apparent contradiction in the 
moral universe, surely it is of sufficient import to spring 
us to activity of the most strenuous type. We are called 
to the task of illustrating the transforming power of 
nonconformity. The power of Christianity is its dis- 
tance from earth and earthly ideals. It is the non- 
conformers who are the real transformers; and this 
power comes from the work of grace wrought inwardly 
by the renewing of our minds. The transformation of 
the Spirit means the transformation of the life task. It 
makes a man incapable of self-conceit. He learns that 
"all have not the same office," and this helps him 
escape the temptation of thinking that he is the main 

(159) 



160 Life and Letters of Paul 

cog in the machinery; he learns the salutary truth that 
it is part and parcel of the universality of the gospel 
that it does not run all of us into the same monotonous 
mold; there are diversities o^ ; gifts; but there is one 
Source, the Spirit who dispenses to all. How we of 
America to-day need to hear and heed Paul's ringing 
exhortation, "Think soberly," and join our prayer with 
that of Kipling: 

"Lord God of hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget, lest we forget!" 

This brings us, in the third place, to note in this chap- 
ter the real essence of Revealed Religion. Between 
verses 9 and 21 Paul gives us an illustration of the 
wonderful play of the basal principle of Christianity. 
Here is where Paul applies the Sermon on the Mount 
as he shows us the rising tide of Love. First, It abhors 
that which is evil and clings to the good; then it shows 
itself in unselfish devotion to the brethren, going so far 
as to prefer "another" in honor. It goes forth into the 
outer world of hustle and bustle. It is "diligent in busi- 
ness, fervent in Spirit, and serving the Lord" in all 
things. In temptation, it shows patience; its atmos- 
phere is prayer; it is benevolent; its hands are filled 
with blessing; it sympathizes; it unifies; it is humble; 
it is honorable; it is peaceable; it is long-suffering; it 
feeds enemies; it quenches the thirst of foes — in short, 
love is the epitome of the gospel of Christ; it is the 
revelation of God, for, like him, it not only suffers evil, 
but overcomes it with good. 

The Christian and His Various Relationships 

These relationships as Paul enumerates them in these 
two chapters are five, and the first point is (verses 1-7) : 
The Christian and His Country. Paul rightly applies the 
principle laid down by Jesus, "Render therefore unto 
Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the 
things that are God's," for he says, "Let every soul 



Romans %ii.~%vi. 1G1 

be subject to the higher powers." Government is one 
of the "higher powers." The anarchist, then, is to be 
condemned. If the government is wrong, change it with 
brains and not with firebrands. Then, too, says this 
great citizen, let no man dodge his civic claims; even 
the tax collector is God's messenger. What a salutary 
lesson is here enforced by Paul the Patriot! Render to 
all in authority their dues. Tribute, custom, fear, 
honor — these are the obligations of citizenship; dis- 
charge them all honestly and so render gratitude to 
God for the blessings of the flag under which you live, 
remembering all the while that your real and abiding 
citizenship is in heaven. The second relationship of 
the new life is enforced under the conception of the 
Christian and his neighbor. These verses (xiii. 8-10) 
bring into view higher duties than those we owe to 
country. The payment of these is patriotism; and this 
is a natural virtue. But Christianity stands for far 
more than the natural; it insists on the performance 
of supernatural duties. Its law is not the law of the 
land, but the law of love. This is the eternal obligation, 
the debt that can never be discharged. It abides. It 
is the law that fulfills all other law. "He that loveth 
hath fulfilled" — everything save the law of love. 

The third note is the Christian and his Lord. The 
fourteenth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Romans 
has been made forever memorable from its connection 
with the conversion of Augustine. This was the verse 
his eye fell upon when he opened the book in response 
to the command: "Take, read." The arrow of convic- 
tion found his conscience, the sword of the Spirit smote 
him. Augustine was brought into saving contact with 
Christ and by reason of this relation of self-commit- 
ment to his Lord was transformed from a sinner low 
and vile to a saint pure and godly. 

The fourteenth chapter brings into view another set 
of obligations. These are the duties that devolve upon 
the Christian as a member of the Church. How is he 
11 



162 Life and Letters of Paul 

to behave toward his brethren? There are so many 
kinds of them that at times we may well be perplexed. 
There is, for example, the brother that Is "weak in 
faith" — the man that is always making a mountain out 
of a molehill. He is a vegetarian and thinks it is a 
capital crime to eat meat. We know the kingdom of 
God is not meat and drink; yet this poor fellow does 
not know the difference. Love alone can help either 
of us; we must receive him, and he must not judge us. 

Then comes the Sabbatarian. This man's trouble is 
not in his stomach, but with the seasons. He is a 
weak (week) brother in two senses; he says you have 
to keep Saturday as Sunday and harps on the sacred- 
ness of the number seven. What are we to do with 
such a man as this? "Be fully persuaded in your own 
mind. ,, Settle everything of this sort in the light of 
the Saviour's presence and Spirit. It is to him that 
we live and for him that we make continual sacrifice. 
The "weak" man must not "judge"; the "strong" man 
must not "set at naught"; each must give account to 
God. 

The all-inclusive relation is the Christian and the 
world (xiv. 13-23). What is the philosophy of the 
Christian life in its attitude toward the whole round of 
things and institutions in the midst of which our lot 
has been cast? Paul answers: "I know, because Jesus 
has persuaded me, that there is nothing unclean in 
itself. Paul would never have got this lesson from 
Pharisaism; but Jesus had thrown the light of his 
truth over all earthly conditions and had transfigured 
the most humble surroundings into a vision splendid to 
his gaze. Nothing can be common, since the Lord of 
life has interpreted all the ranges and activities of hu- 
man life. The children in the market place, the serv- 
ant in the vineyard, the sower in the field, the merchant, 
the laborer, even the unemployed — these all have a mes- 
sage for us because Jesus has made them eloquent. 
The occupations of life, too, have been sanctified by 



Romans xii.-xvi. 163 

him who, though Son of God, made his living in a car- 
penter's shop. No wonder Paul, himself a tentmaker, 
exclaimed: "All things indeed are clean." 

"The world we live in wholly is redeemed; 
Not man alone, but all that man holds dear." 

The Mind of the Master and Its Manifestation 

It is only by the possession of the mind of Christ 
that we can live the Christian life. Here, indeed, the 
inner determines the outer. Four characteristics there 
are to mark the presence of the Saviour's spirit — first, 
unselfishness: "Even Christ pleased not himself." Then 
God is glorified. "I have glorified thee" was the su- 
preme satisfaction of our Lord while upon earth, and 
no less is it to be the ambition of those who have 
his mind. Another mark is its comprehensiveness. It 
receives with a ready and sincere embrace all men. 
"Come unto me" is Christ's perennial invitation, and 
we who are his must be forever extending it. A final 
mark of the presence of the mind of the Master is the 
indwelling of the Holy Spirit; for it is really he, after 
all, that takes of the things of Christ and shows them 
unto us. 

These marks have their special manifestation in 
Paul, first in the fact that he is a pioneer preacher — 
his ambition is not to preach on other people's preserves, 
but to proclaim the gospel where it has never yet been 
heard. This is his consuming ambition, and this 
stamps him as belonging to Him who first loved us and 
gave himself for us. This mind of Christ again mani- 
fests itself in the careful plans Paul is making to see 
the Roman brethren. (Verses 22-29.) He wants to see 
Rome on his way to Spain, where is Cape Finisterre — 
"Land's End." Evidently Paul hoped to see the evan- 
gelization of the world in his generation. Our world 
is larger than Paul's; would that our Christlike zeal 
were proportionate! 



164 Life and Letters of Paul 

The third manifestation of the Master's mind is seen 
in Paul's plea for prayer. (Verses 30-33.) In fact, the 
very word Luke uses to describe the agony of Jesus in 
Gethsemane is used by Paul when he says: "Agonize 
with me that I may be relieved from the rage of the 
unbelieving Jews in the capital city." Nothing is more 
like Christ than this appeal for the prayers of these 
longed-for Romans to help him in his conflict with his 
Jewish countrymen. It is this section that tells so 
much. Here we see that Paul thought that possibly this 
might be his last message to the world. Is it any won- 
der that he addressed it to Rome and made it the most 
comprehensive of all his contributions to Christian 
literature? 

Salutations and Recapitulation 

The most eloquent chapter still remains. Hard names, 
obscure references, but the real gospel is here; for the 
true Revelation is not so much history or logic, but 
life — eternal life, incarnate in loving deed and tireless 
devotion. Hence we have Phcebe, the unselfish Chris- 
tian matron, "helper of many"; Priscilla and Aquila, 
doubly dear to Paul and all the world, for this noble 
pair had not only afforded him a home in Corinth, but 
at a later time, there or at Ephesus, had risked their 
very necks to save his life. And other friends are there 
too. What a splendid host! Epenetus from far-away 
Asia — first fruits of Paul's evangelistic effort in Ephe« 
sus; Mary, unknown save for that immortality that 
ever clings to self-sacrificing love; Andronicus and Junias 
and many more whose names and deeds are written in 
the Book of Life. This chapter in Paul's view is the 
real epistle, written not with pen on parchment, but 
on human hearts by the finger of the Holy Ghost. 

The concluding paragraph is a recapitulation in the 
form of a doxology. Look at the points and review 
Romans in this way. To Him that is able: Romans 
stands for the elaboration of the mighty power of God. 



Romans xii.-xvi. 165 

He is a God that can do things. He has held the whole 
current of human history in the hollow of his omnipo- 
tent hand. The instrument with which he performs 
marvels is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the im- 
pregnable foundation. It is the sequel to the long- 
continued secrecy of God in times past. The darkness 
of the olden time has disappeared, the true light now 
floods the world. The universal religion has been re- 
vealed — the religion whose essence is sonship, whose 
atmosphere is filial faith, and whose source of strength 
is love. God's final message has been sent to men, the 
word has been made flesh, the truth has been revealed 
incarnate. There is no higher form. Therefore to him 
who sent it, "the only wise God," and to him who 
brought it, Jesus Christ, and to him who applies it, 
the Holy Spirit, be the glory forever! Amen and Amen! 

1. Show how the hortatory section of Romans grows 
out of the argumentative. 

2. What is Paul's theory as to diversities of gifts? 

3. State in your own words Paul's conception of the 
basal principle of Christianity. 

4. Sketch the fivefold relationship of the Christian 
life and illustrate the fundamental principle underly- 
ing each. 

5. Give a brief analysis of Paul as a patriot. 

6. What verse in Romans was so influential in the con- 
version of Augustine? Do you recall any parallel cases? 

7. What problems of conduct arose in the Roman 
Church between the various members? 

8. What is Paul's fundamental attitude toward the 
world as the scene of a Christian's life? 

9. State the main elements in the mind of the Master. 
How are they manifested in Paul's appeal to the Romans? 

10. How does it happen that Paul, who had never been 
to Rome, has so many friends in the city? 

11. Tell what you know of Phoebe. 

12. When did Priscilla and Aquila first cross the path 
of Paul? 

13. Name some of the comrades in Corinth who send 
salutations along with Paul to friends in Rome. 

14. Give an epitome of the Epistle based on the con- 
cluding doxology. 



XX. PAUL'S PRISON CORRESPONDENCE 

Introduction 

We now come to the third period of the literary 
career of the great apostle to the Gentiles. The 
second period closed with Romans; and though Paul 
was to some extent fearful that this might be his 
last writing, in the providence of God his life was 
spared. And though his external range of activity was 
thenceforth much limited, still the output of his ener- 
gies at this time tells more on the future history of 
the Christian movement than possibly all his other 
labors put together. 

The visit to Jerusalem referred to in the Roman 
epistle was made, but Paul was arrested there and car- 
ried thence to Csesarea, where he was detained two 
years. Thence on his appeal to Caesar he was deported 
to Rome, where the narrative in Acts leaves him with 
the significant sentence: "Preaching the kingdom of 
God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus 
Christ with all boldness, no man forbidding him." 
Here we see the double phase of the apostle's work 
while under watch in the capital city. His untiring 
spirit, though hedged about by frowning city walls, 
busied itself in seeking converts among the soldiers, 
in the slums, and to some extent pierced into the circle 
of the palace itself. But his great contribution to 
Christianity at this time is, of course, the splendid let- 
ters that come from his pen in answer to the inquiries 
and perplexities of his Churches — some of them far re- 
moved in space, but all of them carried still on the 
heart of their loving founder and pastor. Of these let- 
ters, we have (probably in the order of their composi- 
tion) Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians. 
These four date from the first Roman imprisonment; 
(166) 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 167 

and one has but to glance at any one of them to see the 
incalculable debt which future ages were to owe to the 
hand that penned them, and at the same time to ap- 
preciate the wonderful providence that through the 
gloom of a Roman prison could send forth such a 
steady stream of light and life for the inspiration of 
"ages to come." We shall study all these letters in this 
chapter save Philemon, which, being strictly private, 
may be thrown with those to Timothy and Titus. 

The Epistle to the Colossians 

Let us then consider first the Epistle to the Colos- 
sians. Its occasion, its teaching, and its general com- 
prehensiveness mark it as one of Paul's most signifi- 
cant utterances. 

The Occasion of Colossians 

Colosse was a city of Asia Minor, on the banks of 
the Lycus River. Paul himself, it seems, had never 
been there (ii. 1), but in all probability it had been 
evangelized by Epaphras and other helpers of his dur- 
ing his long pastorate at Ephesus. At any rate, he was 
intensely interested in the Church at that place and 
thoroughly cognizant of the dangers confronting it. It 
was doubtless through the report of Epaphras (iv. 12) 
that Paul got news of the special dangers that were 
then imminent. The territory of Asia Minor was the 
common meeting ground of the East and West of that 
day, and hence all sorts of opinions were rife, especial- 
ly in the sphere of religious thinking. As early as Acts 
xx., in his address to the Ephesian elders, Paul had put 
himself on record as seeing the seeds of coming heresy 
springing up in the bosom of the Church itself. This 
fear of many years' standing has now become a reality. 
Error has swooped down upon his brethren and is 
threatening to undermine their faith in Christ as their 
all-sufficient Saviour. This error, as we see from the 
epistle itself, has two phases. In the first place, there 



168 Life and Letters of Paul 

is a Judaic element, as is seen positively from the refer- 
ence to "new moons" and "Sabbaths" (ii. 16), and nega- 
tively from Paul's emphasis on the necessity for spir- 
itual circumcision as contradistinguished from that of 
the mere formal sort (ii. 11). The second element in 
the error combated is more vague, but seems to be a 
sort of incipient Gnostic teaching in which theosophic 
speculation, shadowy mysticism, and a tendency to in- 
terpose certain spiritual agencies between God and 
man unite to the detriment of the clear teaching of 
the gospel. This latter phase seems to dominate, for it 
is given greater attention in the letter. 

Two characteristics of it are clear. To begin with, it 
was a species of intellectual exclusiveness, and a kind 
of spiritual aristocracy was implied in it which was 
wholly foreign to the spiritual democracy inculcated 
and illustrated by Christ. Hence all through Colos- 
sians we find Paul contending most strenuously for 
the universality of the Christian message. "Whom we 
preach, warning every man and teaching every man, 
that we may present every man perfect in 
Christ" (i. 28). In addition to being an intellectual 
aristocracy, this Gnostic element set for itself the prob- 
lem of explaining how the world as we have it could 
come from God. The twofold question was, "How may 
we account for creation?" and, "How explain the exist- 
ence of evil?" The second question was answered by 
saying that matter is essentially evil, and hence the 
larger problem is the first. If matter is essentially 
evil, how could an infinitely holy God create a material 
universe? To bridge the chasm between infinite holi- 
ness and finite evil, the fancy of these teachers con- 
ceived a series of successive emanations, each less di- 
vine than its predecessor, until finally Deity had be- 
come undivine enough to come in contact with physical 
imperfection. This chasm the thinkers of these schools 
called "the fullness" or "void" or "pleroma," With one 
sweep Paul closes the gap between God and the uni- 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 169 

verse by saying: "It pleased God that in him [that is, 
in Christ] should all the fullness dwell." 

But there was a practical as well as a speculative 
side to this false teaching. The question of the moral 
life had to be met, and for the most part asceticism, 
rigid and constant, was the instant prescription. If 
matter is evil, then flagellation of the body ought to 
bring relief v . And so the hard logic of the system, if at 
the time of Paul it could be called a system, entailed a 
merciless adherence to rigid asceticism which had, in- 
deed, "a show of wisdom in will worship and humility 
and severity to the body, but was not of any value 
against the indulgence of the flesh." And so, for the 
Colossians as for all, asceticism in religion led to de- 
spair. Both speculatively and practically, therefore, 
the whole thing was a failure, and Paul sets about to 
correct its fundamental error. This he does by insisting 
that Christianity holds 

Christ as the Fullness of God 

There are three great phases of this statement that 
require attention. The first is the supremacy of Christ 
in the material universe. Here (i. 16) Paul joins 
hands with John's Gospel and the Epistle to the He- 
brews and sets forth Christ as the cause of creation 
itself. "In him were all things created." No need, 
then, says Paul, for the Christian to get tangled up in 
the endless chain of causes implied in the contention 
of the errorists, for the one simple and sublime expla- 
nation of the cosmos is Christ. However difficult this 
may be for our modern conceptions, it is significant 
that whenever the apostolic age speaks on this point 
the testimony is unanimous. John is no less strong in 
his statement: "All things were made through him." 
The unknown writer to the Hebrews voices the same 
fundamental conviction when he asserts: "By whom 
also he made the worlds." So when Paul avers of 
Christ that "all things have been created through him 



170 Life and Letters of Paul 

and unto him, . . . and in him all things consist," 
let us not think that we are dealing with an individual 
idiosyncrasy, but rather are listening to the unimpeach- 
able verdict of the highest and deepest Christian specu- 
lation. The material universe must have a ground 
or basal explanation. Its fundamental reason is that 
through it God may reveal himself. But no material 
universe, however huge in scale, can adequately repre- 
sent God. Only God can reveal God, and this revela- 
tion comes in the person of Christ. This is the goal of 
all creation — namely, that God may express himself in 
the highest form of finite existence. This highest form 
is man, the crown of all material creation. Therefore 
Christ is the cause of the cosmos, for it is only through 
creation and incarnation that God can be adequately 
known as God. 

But the apostle goes a stage farther in his argument. 
Christ is not only supreme in the material universe, 
he is also supreme in God's moral creation. He is the 
Head of the body, the Church; he is the Medium 
through whom reconciliation is wrought throughout all 
the ranges of moral intelligences; he is God's eternal 
vindication of things as they are in process of being 
brought to terms of peace with himself. Christ is thus 
the final answer to all the questionings of the human 
heart. Long before Browning phrased it Paul thought 
out the deep meaning of that statement of faith which 
has never been revised nor ever needed restatement: 

"The acknowledgment of God in Christ, accepted by thy 
reason, 
Solves for thee all questions in the world and out of 
it." 

But, further, Christ, if he be supreme in the material 
and moral spheres, is certainly sufficient for all the 
legitimate demands of the Christian life. Therefore the 
warning: "Take heed that no man spoil you through 



PauVs Prison Correspondence 171 

his philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of 
men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after 
Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God- 
head bodily. And in him ye are made full." (ii. 8-10.)' 
Here is the answer Paul would give to all those subtle 
suggestions which indicate that Christian faith has to 
be supplemented by asceticism, rigid adherence to legal- 
istic formulas, outward ceremonials, or what not. "You 
were dead, and he raised you. He forgave you; he blot- 
ted out the bond of ordinances which was against you. 
He nailed it to his cross. He despoiled all this hier- 
archy of principalities and powers of which these false 
teachers prate so eloquently. He made a public show 
of their impotence when he triumphed over them by 
his cross." "What need for anything else? Here are 
the great spiritual verities, the realities of the Chris- 
tian life. Let no man crib, cabin, and confine you in 
the narrow limitations of a rigid observance of mere 
diet and days. The kingdom of God is not meat and 
drink. Let no man rob you of the great prize of spir- 
itual deliverance won for you by Christ. Do not be 
cheated out of your birthright as believers in a risen, 
exalted Lord for the poor mess of pottage that a petty 
mundane philosophy may conjure up. Risen with Christ, 
your direction is onward and upward, not backward 
and downward. Your affections and your hopes are 
with him; and the source of your life is not in the 
specious systems that mere human thinking can devise, 
but your life has its rooting in God, for it is hid with 
Christ, and he is all-supreme and all-sufficient." (ii. 
8-iii. 4, paraphrase.) 

The Universality of the Christian Message 

From the fifth verse of the third chapter to the sev- 
enth verse of the fourth Paul is occupied in giving at- 
tention to the all-embracing scope of the Christian mes- 
sage. If Christ is all-supreme in the material and 
moral universe and all-sufficient for the demands of 



172 Life and Letters of Paul 

the ever-enlarging and advancing Christian experience, 
then his claim is all-inclusive and the Christian obliga- 
tion is universal in its scope. In the first place, this 
obligation is absolute with regard to all forms of sin 
and evil. It calls for a crucifixion of the members that 
are upon the earth (iii. 5) and a putting off of the old 
man with his deeds. In the second place, it demands 
the putting on of the new man, beginning with a heart 
like unto that of Christ, issuing in an attitude toward 
men like that Christ himself maintained, resulting in an 
inward peace such as Christ ever possessed, and mani- 
festing itself at all times as guardian of that word of 
Christ which constantly shows its fruitage in wise ad- 
monitions to men and grateful praise to God (iii. 12- 
16). 

Again, and finally, the Christian religion is for all 
men and all the relations of life. In Christ there can- 
not be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumci- 
sion, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman, but Christ 
is all and in all. It encompasses all the duties of life. 
"Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the 
name of the Lord Jesus." And all relations, too, are 
involved. Wives, husbands, children, servants, masters 
— all are to live under the direct gaze of him who is in 
heaven. True religion does not spell aristocracy, wheth- 
er that of Pharisaic pride or scribal smartness, but it 
demands a divine democracy whose guiding principle 
is the Spirit of Jesus and whose final objective is 
mutual upbuilding. Hence Paul's final paragraph (iv. 
2-6) claims all spiritual exercise as Christ's rightful 
possession. The prayer life, the life of external action, 
and the life of social intercourse — all these are to be 
consecrated to him. For he that is all-supreme in na- 
ture and in grace, he that is all-sufficient for the initia- 
tion and the development of Christian experience — this 
one must needs be also all-sovereign over all the ranks 
of men and over all the ranges of human activity; for 



Pauls Prison Correspondence 173 

it is ever true that "Christ is Lord of all or else not 
Lord at all." 

The Epistle to the Ephesians 
Introduction 

This writing must be reckoned as dating from 
Paul's first Roman imprisonment and is best under- 
stood when considered as a complement to the let- 
ter sent to the city of Colosse. That letter, as we 
have seen, is the apostle's greatest effort to set forth 
in its true light his conception of Christ's person and 
work. It is highly significant that just about this 
time his great soul should have given expression to 
the Epistle to the Ephesians — his greatest effort to set 
forth the true nature and scope of the Church. Here 
he was in the capital city of the greatest empire his- 
tory had known up to that time, an empire truly mag- 
nificent in its organization and imperial in its demands 
upon the imagination of any truly thoughtful soul. The 
great ideas for which that empire stood were unity and 
perpetuity. The slogan of all in authority was: "Let 
the Eternal City give laws to the world." These two 
ideas, thus dimly achieved in the history of Rome, 
Paul saw gloriously realized in the conception of the 
Christian Church. Here, exclaims he, is the really 
eternal city, made up of those who are chosen in Him 
"before the foundation of the world." Here is the real 
unity among the nations. Not that brought about by 
mere force of arms, but that wrought out by the mighty 
power of God himself, who through the cross of his 
Son has broken down the intervening wall of the par- 
tition separating the nations of earth and has made 
of all men one new humanity, a temple high and holy, 
Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone. 

Strange irony here! The enemies that thrust this 
clear-eyed seer into a Roman dungeon were simply af- 
fording him a medium through which to view the fu- 



174 Life and Letters of Paul 

ture glory of the Christian Church. Out of the heart 
of Rome, the synonym for war, came this greatest gift 
of peace the world has yet received — peace with God 
and harmony with men. Let us consider somewhat 
generally the destination and doctrine of the epistle 
and conclude with a brief statement of its contents. 

The Destination of Ephesians 

In all probability this epistle is not directed solely 
to the Church at Ephesus. Paul had spent his longest 
time as a preacher-pastor in this city, and it is hardly 
conceivable that had he been writing to this Church 
alone he would have refrained from all salutations. 
In all his other letters he lets us known who his friends 
are and for the most part why they are his friends. It 
is not credible that he would have here broken his 
custom save on the assumption that the letter was sent 
to others as well as to the saints in Diana's district. 
Again, the fact that some old manuscripts do not have 
in the opening verse the phrase "in Ephesus" seems to 
suggest that the destination was not stated or at least 
was left blank to be filled in later as occasion de- 
manded. In Colossians iv. 16 Paul says to that Church: 
"And when this epistle has been read among you, cause 
that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; 
and that ye also read the epistle from Laodicea." It 
is this last sentence that explains the situation. Paul 
had evidently sent a special letter to Colosse because 
through Epaphras he had learned of dangers then 
threatening them. Then, knowing that the whole Ly- 
cus Valley was subject more or less to the same stress 
and strain, he decided to send a communication to suit 
the conditions that confronted all the chain of Churches 
there. This writing would set forth the general char- 
acteristics of the Church of Christ; it would be a dis- 
cussion of the fundamental things in the life of the 
Church; it would stress the principles of unity and per- 
petuity — that is, it would be a performance just like 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 175 

the one we have before us — it would be sent around 
in the circuit of those Churches Paul had enterprised 
while he made Ephesus his strategic base of missionary 
effort. And as this great city had dominated as the 
center of the heathen worship of all that section, it 
was perfectly natural that this leadership should be 
characteristic of her Christian history and that the let- 
ter the Church should finally incorporate into the canon 
would be the copy (or the copy of the copy) left by the 
itinerant messenger at Ephesus. 

Some Great Teachings 

Among the fundamental utterances of this profound 
writing we must mention first that of the universal 
Fatherhood of God. Indeed, this epistle among Paul's 
writings is on this point what St. John is among the 
Gospel authors. We can have no universe, either in the 
moral or material sphere, save on this conception of the 
Father "from whom every family in heaven and earth 
is named. ,, 

Going along with this as a necessary correlate there 
is here stressed the essential unity of the race as real- 
ized in the Christian community. Human nature as 
such has been redeemed and exalted in Christ into the 
very "heavenlies" themselves. 

The third general truth emphasized in this epistle is 
the divine function of the Christian family. If God 
finds his crowning glory in revealing his Fatherhood, 
and if humanity has been ideally realized in Christ, 
this naturally follows: the Christian family must be 
the very antechamber of heaven. Hence Paul in his 
later letters, especially in Ephesians, gives a much 
larger place to the family as the seed plot of the king- 
dom and the bulwark of the Church than he does in 
his earlier efforts. In these first letters all things are 
foreshortened, due to the heavy pressure of the belief 
in the speedy return of the Lord. Here, however, this 
impression has been for the most part corrected, and a 



176 Life and Letters of Paul 

long vista is thus opened up for the future history of 
the Church. There are "ages to come" which are to 
hear of his wonderful gospel, and therefore Paul sees 
the greater reason why he should dwell upon the per- 
manence of Christian organization, the functions of the 
various forces working for the kingdom, and various 
strata of the social order diversified, indeed, in end but 
all divine in origin. Hence it follows that there is little 
"local color" exhortation in this writing. Its great 
principles are as pertinent to-day in our modern cen- 
ters of Church and commercial activity as they were in 
the great city of Ephesus. Here time is caught in the 
mighty grip of God's all-inclusive purpose and merged 
into eternity; here all mere places are lifted up into 
"the heavenlies"; here the discordant and hitherto an- 
tagonistic becomes harmonious and unified; here the 
transient becomes the abiding — all because of the won- 
derful grace of God revealed in the redemptive work 

of Christ. 

The Main Contents 

There seem to be two well-defined sections in the six 
chapters that constitute our letter. Chapters i.-iii. are 
clearly doctrinal, this section closing with a noble dox- 
ology which sets forth in clear light the power of God 
and his claim upon the praise of men. Beginning with 
chapter iv. and going through to the end, we have the 
hortatory section, which appears to have three general 
divisions. Chapter iv. 1 to v. 21 is an appeal to the 
whole Church, in which they are exhorted to walk 
worthy of their vocation in Christ, to part company 
forever with their old Gentile ideals, to practice the 
peculiar Christian virtues of truthfulness, honest toil, 
purity in speech, gentleness, forbearance, and love. 
They are also exhorted to avoid certain characteristic 
Gentile vices, such as impurity, covetousness, foolish 
jesting, and intemperance. This section reaches its 
climax in a noble plea that their lives be full of thank- 
ful joy and praise (v. 18-21), 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 177 

The second phase of this hortatory section is that 
directed to all classes constituting the Christian Church 
(v. 22-vi. 9). Here Paul takes the Christian home as 
the seed plot of the Church, where the fundamental 
virtues of the new society are to have their real root- 
age and first fruitage. The whole gamut of the normal 
household is run — wives, husbands, children, parents, 
servants, masters. None are overlooked in the scheme 
of gospel redemption; and it is in the home, where the 
duties of submission, love, obedience, and forbearance 
are inculcated and illustrated, that the kingdom of God 
is coming most speedily and most surely. 

The third part of this hortatory section (vi. 10-20) is 
doubtless the most familiar passage in the entire epistle. 
Prom the picture of the ideal home which Paul denied 
himself that he might all the better serve his Lord he 
turns to the cold and cheerless prison home he has to 
inhabit. From the gracious Master in heaven, in whose 
employ he delights to be, he turns to his master on 
earth, and he sees himself chained to a Roman soldier. 
But, far from being depressed by the sight, he gains 
and gives great inspiration from what his eye beholds. 
In fact, Paul saw the gospel message wheresoever his 
gaze did light. So he begins to preach the gospel of 
victorious conquest as he sees the equipment of his 
Roman guard. Mere material accouterment, even that 
of imperial Rome, does not count for much in the 
struggle the souls of men have to undergo. Men who 
follow Christ are called to grander campaigns than 
Caesar ever summoned his legions to. Not against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities and powers and 
spiritual hosts of wickedness they are to go forth. 
Therefore their armor must be of God, and Paul's faith 
will not allow him to believe less than that God will 
perfectly equip his loyal soldiers. Caesar's man by his 
side has all that is requisite for successful defense or 
victorious advance. Shall Christ's man be less pro- 
vided for? Nay, a thousand times nay! says this val- 
12 



178 Life and Letters of Paul 

iant veteran of many a hard and bitter campaign. 
From head to foot he is incased in the panoply of God. 
Truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, the word of God 
— these all shall prove mighty through God to the tear- 
ing down of all opposition and the uprearing of the 
structure of the kingdom that shall abide. 

And so this great letter, the theme of which is unity 
and perpetuity, closes with the figure of the Christian 
soldier. Great are the victories yet to be won ere these 
two great principles be secured, but far greater is our 
hope to-day than ever. The progress of federation 
among the Churches is fast breaking down the middle 
wall of partition that has so long divided the members 
of Christ's household. The dawn of the day of denomi- 
national disarmament is dimly discernible even now; 
and the progress of missions abroad, revealing as it 
does day by day the intrenchment of the Spirit of the 
living Saviour in the tombs of dead and dying heathen 
faiths, presages with an emphasis hitherto unfelt the 
time when the kingdoms of this world shall become 
the kingdom^ of our Lord. The new man — neither Greek 
nor Jew, neither Anglo-Saxon nor Slav, neither Oriental 
nor Occidental, but human in all the Christ-illumined 
interpretation of the word — is beginning to take form 
on humanity's horizon and to inspire humanity's^ hopes, 
and nearer are we to-day than ever to the fulfillment of 
the divine ambition which voiced itself before time be- 
gan in the unquenchable passion of the infinite Father: 
"Let us make man in our iniage." 

The Epistle to the Phllippians 
Introduction 

Our study of Paul's prison correspondence fittingly 
closes with his farewell letter to Europe, and it is very 
significant that, it is directed to the first Church 
founded by him on that continent. By referring to 
the chapter in Acts (the immortal sixteenth) we will 
refresh our minds on the thrilling incidents connected 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 179 

with the gospel invasion of Europe, and many points in 
our present letter will have much light cast upon them. 
In addition to this comment, it would be well to read 
1 Thessalonians i. 6-10 and ii. 1, 2 for further light 
upon the whole Grecian situation. With these general 
suggestions, let us consider the following points: 

Date and Occasion 

The occasion of this letter is very clearly stated in 
the concluding paragraph of the last chapter (iv. 14-19). 
After stating with characteristic independence his all- 
sufficiency in Christ, Paul gracefully and gratefully ac- 
knowledges the gift that had come from them through 
the kind offices of Epaphroditus and also leaves them 
and us to infer that this Church was the only one from 
which he ever consented to receive gifts of this sort. 
And it is doubtless the people at Philippi he has in 
mind when he says to the proud Pharisees at Corinth: 
"I robbed other Churches, . . . that I might minis- 
ter unto you" (2 Cor. xi. 8). As we recur to the cir- 
cumstances of the founding of this first Church in 
Europe and witness the persecution and humiliating in- 
solence heaped upon the apostle there, it is no wonder 
that the few faithful souls that did accept his message 
were bound to him by ties absolutely unbreakable. 

If the last chapter gives us the occasion, the first 
gives us a strong clew to the date of this writing. In 
this chapter (i. 23) Paul states the dilemma he finds 
himself in. He is in a strait betwixt two: whether to 
depart and be with Christ or to abide and labor in their 
behalf. He finally dissolves the doubt by calmly assur- 
ing them: "I know that I shall abide with you all." 
This seems to point to the conclusion that he is re- 
ferring to his near release from imprisonment. He is 
in such intimate association with the household of 
Csesar (iv. 22) that all rumors incident to his trial are 
at once made known to him. 

There are some able interpreters who regard this 



180 Life and Letters of Paul 

epistle as first in the order of his captivity correspond- 
ence. But we rather read the facts in such a way as to 
infer from all the canons of criticism the order adopted 
by us — Colossians, having as its occasion the rise of an 
incipient Gnosticism and a consequent temptation to 
doctrinal aberration; Philemon, having its occasion in 
Rome in the conversion #f a runaway slave; Ephesians, 
having its occasion in Paul's knowledge that the entire 
Lycus Valley was in danger of losing the keynote of 
Christianity; and, finally, toward the close of his im- 
prisonment, this Philippian Church, situated as it was 
in a city that had the boon of Roman citizenship, and 
as a colony was continually looking toward the mother 
city of the empire, hearing of Paul's condition as a 
captive there and fearing that their father in the faith 
was in need of the necessities of life, out of hearts of 
gratitude transmit to him a generous offering indica* 
tive of their love and confidence. 

General Character and Contents 

We are not to suppose that this is Paul's first com< 
munication to the Church at Philippi, for this is nol 
their first contribution to him (iv. 16); and certainly 
Paul would be the last man in the world to omit th^ 
courtesy of an acknowledgment of their bounty. ThU 
letter is a spontaneous stream of spiritual suggestive* 
ness — all the more spiritual because more and more the 
material is vanishing from the apostle's gaze, all the 
more suggestive because its power lies not so much in 
what is said as in what is implied, all the more spon- 
taneous because of the purely personal relation it em* 
bodies. Here, indeed, also we have Paul's interpreta- 
tion of Christianity in its purely positive aspects. It^ 
purpose is not to denounce errors in doctrine nor to 
combat delinquencies in duty, but to recognize and em- 
phasize the life through Christ and the life in Christ 
This feature of our epistle should cause us at such a 
time as this great gratitude. How pleasing that the 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 181 

apostle's correspondence with his Churches should close 
in this fashion — in the calm and clear presentation of 
those great positive principles of Christianity the ear- 
nest proclamation of which has ever proved the only cor- 
rective for a lax discipline and a sufficient safeguard 

against every erroneous doctrine! 

i 
The Doctrinal Element 

While the primary emphasis in this epistle is not on 
doctrine, what is said is by no means unimportant. 
Three great passages must at least be mentioned, though 
their full discussion would run into volumes. The first 
of these (ii. 5-11) gives in graphic outline the dominat- 
ing motive underlying the work of Christ. While, of 
course, the writer never intended this as a strictly 
scientific analysis of the relations subsisting between 
Christ and God, and while it would hardly be fair to 
erect upon this paragraph alone a theory of the nature 
of our Lord, still the fundamental postulates of Chris- 
tianity are here in an emphatic form, and we cannot 
fall far short of his meaning if we insist that Paul 
meant nothing less than absolute divinity as the pre- 
mundane possession of Christ. It was his great height 
that gave point and power to his great descent. With- 
out such a Saviour, Christianity would never have 
started Saul of Tarsus on his glorious career; and sure- 
ly the need for such a Saviour has not been supplied 
so far from any other source. 

The second great passage is found in chapter iii. 3-16. 
Here is the apostle's teaching with regard to the de- 
mands of discipleship. The disciple, says Paul, is not 
above his Lord. If he stooped to conquer, so must we. 
Our first duty is to deny self. This is the paramount 
precept; and as Christ himself has illustrated it in the 
first instance, so one looks in vain for a higher human 
example than Paul. In this passage, which utters his 
protest against Judaism, he shows how futile it is from 
the fact that he had enjoyed its prerogative in the 



182 Life and Letters of Paul 

very highest degree. And yet the outcome was spir- 
itual bankruptcy, and he never reached true riches till 
he turned his back on all for Christ. Then, and then 
only, it was that he came to have a real righteousness 
— not his own, but of Christ — bestowed; then, and then 
only, did he become rich in knowledge by reason of 
coming to know the power of Christ's resurrection; and 
then, and then only, did he become rich in a hope that 
pierced the gloom of the grave and lent its alluring 
rays to light his pathway to his new-found goal, "the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 

A third general point of teaching we must glance at. 
This is the comprehensiveness of Christianity as set 
forth in chapter iv. 8, 9. This is a consequence of the 
other two. Christ is Lord over all and as such is the 
Author of our salvation. He is Lord of all and as such 
has the right to lay down the demands of discipleship. 
On the strength of these two is laid the foundation of 
the gospel's "whosoever." But Christ is to be Lord 
in all as well. There is a "whatsoever" answering to 
the "whosoever." His domain not only includes all 
men; it is just as sweeping in its inclusion of their 
tasks. The kingdom of our Christ includes all truth, 
all honor, all justice, all purity, all loveliness, all things 
of good report — every conceivable virtue, every conceiv- 
able object of approbation. So Paul, too, knows that 

"There are no Gentile oaks, no pagan pines: 
The grass beneath our feet is sacred grass." 

And he, along with us all, rejoices that so bigoted a 
Pharisee has been transformed into so cosmopolitan a 
Christian. 

The Spiritual Tone 

No one can keep company with Paul in this letter 
without recognizing the spiritual tonic of its bracing 
atmosphere. There is a ringing note of joy pervading 
nearly every paragraph: "Rejoice, . . . and again I 
say, Rejoice" (iv. 4). Again, the calm dignity and unruf- 



Pauls Prison Correspondence 183 

fled peace of mind of the writer cannot escape us. He 
is here the best illustration of the promise he records: 
"The peace of God shall stand guard like a sentinel 
over your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" 
(iv. 7). Two illustrations — one at the beginning, the 
other at the close of the letter — must suffice. The first 
(i. 12-23) may- be happily termed "the fortune of mis- 
fortune." Those buffetings which have been Paul's lot 
for so many days had now their full explanation. All 
things are under the guidance of a Father's love. 
Things which boded disaster to the gospel and probable 
extinction of its chief herald had turned out marvel- 
ously otherwise. The advent of Paul had given such 
an impetus to gospel preaching at Rome as it had never 
known before. His bonds had proved more eloquent 
than his tongue. Not only the citizens, but the soldiers, 
rude and crude as they were, had heard, and even into 
the walls of the palace itself the message of the Cruci- 
fied had found its way, and saints were being developed 
among the slaves of Caesar's household. 

The other passage is even more suggestive. It pre- 
sents not so much the progress of grace outwardly, but 
rather inwardly in the heart of the apostle himself. 
Possibly no words tell us so much of the power of 
Christ to solve the problem of a human heart as this 
paragraph does (iv. 11-13). Paul here makes three 
statements: "I have learned, ... I know, ... I 
can do." His life, then, has not been in vain; his 
spirit has been under the educative process, and the 
fruits of a true culture appear in that he has studied 
in the school of Christ, caught his spirit, and ac- 
quired his power. Paul is thus discovered to be a mas- 
ter, because he has met the Master and has owned his 
sway. His is a great life, because through his life he 
let the "Life of lives" live. And how fitting it is that 
this man, whom in his letters we have followed through 
Thessalonica, Galatia, Corinth, Rome, Ephesus, and 
Colosse and found to be a fearless opponent of evil and 



184 Life and Letters of Paul 

a peerless exponent of God, should conclude in this 
fashion! How significant is this last glimpse we get of 
him as he makes his appeal to Philippi, not many miles 
distant from Thessalonica, whither the first letter was 
sent! We have followed him in his literary circuit, 
and he brings us back to Christ as the Author of all 
his inspiration and the Source of all his power. Paul, 
though he has written all these mighty messages, is 
still sitting, a docile pupil, at the feet of Jesus. His 
ambition still is "that I may know him." And here at 
the feet of the great Teacher, whose messages he has 
done most to formulate and illustrate, is where all our 
study of Paul should leave us. 

1. Outline the story of Paul's travels from the last 
visit to Corinth and the writing of the letter to the 
Romans (Acts xix. 21, 22) to his imprisonment in Rome 
(Acts xxviii. 30 )„ 

2. Had the restriction of his liberty anything to do 
with the character and extent of Paul's literary activi- 
ties during the period of imprisonment? 

3. What are the prison epistles? Why not include the 
letter to Philemon? 

4. What fear expressed by Paul in Acts xx. 29, 30 had 
proved to be well grounded with reference to the Church 
at Colosse and other Churches of the same region; and 
what were the two outstanding characteristics of the 
erroneous teachings that were there beginning to pre- 
vail? 

5. What consequent question of the moral life fol- 
lowed as a corollary of the doctrinal errors? 

6. How did Paul meet the Colossian errors concerning 
(1) creation, (2) the object of creation, and (3) the 
moral explanation of creation? 

7. If Christ is the efficient agent of creation, the reve- 
lation of God and the moral vindication and goal of all 
things, what does Paul infer to be the scope and the 
breadth of application of the gospel message? 

8. What was the especial purpose of the letter to the 
Ephesians, and in what way is it a complement to the 
letter to the Colossians? 

9. What are the three great outstanding truths in 
Ephesians? (Fatherhood of God; unity of the race real- 



Paul's Prison Correspondence 185 

ized in the Christian community; the divine function of 
the Christian family.) 

10. From a reading of Philippians what do you gather 
as to date, personal relations of the writer, and the 
especial occasion for the writing? 

11. Give the substance of the three great doctrinal 
passages in the letter to the Philippians. ii. 5-11, the 
motive underlying the work of Christ; iii. 3-16, the de- 
mands of discipleship; iv. 8-9, the inclusiveness of Chris- 
tian life and duty. 



XXI. PAUL'S PASTORAL AND PERSONAL 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

Introduction 

We give the title "Pastoral" to the three letters 
that have come down to us under the name of Paul, 
directed to his missionary helpers, Timothy and Ti- 
tus. In a sense, all the letters of Paul we have hith- 
erto studied are pastoral; but the title is more ap- 
propriately given to these, seeing that they are ad- 
dressed to men who have pastoral oversight of certain 
congregations. In them Paul tries to give specific di- 
rections which, if followed, will help his representa- 
tives in their labor for the souls of men and the up- 
building of the kingdom. There are no other writings 
in the New Testament which constitute such a rich 
treasury of practical instruction as do these brief let- 
ters. Unfortunately, for over a century they have been 
in the maelstrom of criticism, and to a great extent the 
patience of both commentator and reader has been ex- 
hausted on matter of introduction, and the rich spir- 
itual repasts have for the most part in the study of the 
nineteenth century been sacrificed for the crusts of 
criticism and the dry bones of ecclesiastical archaeology. 
Such must not be our method of approach in this study. 
We approach them not from the standpoint of criticism, 
nor from the standpoint of Church organization, but 
rather from the standpoint of the personal relation the 
author sustains to the addressees. 

Let us begin with Titus. When Paul met Titus we 
do not know. In fact, it is one of the standing mys- 
teries of New Testament biography — second only to the 
fact that John the apostle is not mentioned in the 
fourth Gospel — that Titus does not appear in the whole 
range of the Acts of the Apostles. This has led some 
(186) 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 187 

to argue that he is to be identified with Luke or Silas; 
but we cannot accept these efforts as satisfactory. Suf- 
fice it to say that he looms large in Paul's epistles, no- 
tably Galatians and 2 Corinthians. He was a pure 
Gentile and figured conspicuously at the Jerusalem con- 
ference as a sample of what Christianity could do with 
heathen material. Later on we find that he was of 
great service, both personally and professionally, to Paul, 
for it was his arrival and ministration that rescued 
the great apostle from some great spiritual and possi- 
bly physical depression and brought him back to life 
and hope. (2 Cor. ii. 12-14 and i. 8, 9.) Subsequently to 
this he was of great service to his father in the faith 
in the part he played in helping on the matter of the 
collection and other administrative details at Corinth. 
He ever appears as a strong, sane, and in every way 
noble Christian character — just such a man as Paul 
would be proud to leave in a position of difficulty and 
responsibility. 

The Epistle to Titus 

It is just such an appointment he has at the hands 
of Paul. He is read out for the Church in Crete, the 
central island of the Mediterranean. He has the whole 
island for his parish, and his work is "to set in order 
the things that are wanting, and appoint elders in 
every city." If any preacher ever had a "big appoint- 
ment," it certainly was Brother Titus. The territory 
to be covered was immense, the obstacles to be encoun- 
tered were formidable, and the people to whom he was 
sent — well, the least said about them the better. Their 
outstanding national trait — even on their own confes- 
sion — was a triple alliance of falsehood, bestiality, and 
idleness. They were liars, lustful, and lazy. What sort 
of Christian leadership ought to be set over such a herd 
of swine? Here, if anywhere, men must be found who 
are not conformed to this environment, but who, hav- 
ing been transformed by the Spirit of Christ, can now 



188 Life and Letters of Paul 

demonstrate the transforming power of nonconformity. 
These swine must be changed to sheep; and before the 
shepherd can hug them to his bosom he must scrub 
them and drub them to wash and wean them from their 
filth and mire. No "like people, like priest" for Paul 
here in Crete! Rather he would have Titus himself 
and the overseers he appoints and the deacons and the 
members of the Church — men, women, children, and 
slaves — all of them face this great fact, that the real 
gospel message is a transformed human life that sheds 
the aroma and beauty of a heavenly sweetness and 
glory in never so untoward an atmosphere. "For the 
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to 
v all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed 
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, 
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify 
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" 
(Titus ii. 11-14). This is Paul's epitome of the evangel 
for Crete; and Crete was the world in epitome. Here is 
a great revelation, a great education, a great inspira- 
tion, a great expectation, and a great salvation. The 
third chapter of this bugle call to action shows the 
attitude Christians are to assume toward the government 
and social order under which they live. Here the great 
law is to destroy evil by the conquering power of love 
and holiness of life. Not agitation, nor even legisla- 
tion, is any permanent cure for the ills that afflict so 
sorely the social order; but consecration to high and 
holy living and immolation of self on the altar of 
human service — this is the way the kindly disposition 
of the first great philanthropist has been manifested 
to men. (Titus iii. 4, 5.) Paul closes this strong and 
sympathetic appeal to his sturdy colaborer by referring 
to his plans for spending the winter at Nicopolis. This 
means, of course, that he is free from the restraint of 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 189 

prison restrictions; and in the hope of meeting his legal 
adviser, Zenas, and his preacher friend, Apollos, he 
closes with the conviction that the Christians of Crete 
will be the better for his writing, and that when Titus 
comes to conference at Nicopolis he will be able to re- 
port a year of unprecedented achievement. 

The First Epistle to Timothy 

Our environment is altogether different in the epistles 
to Timothy. We have left Crete, the island, and are now 
in Ephesus, the great metropolis. The crudeness of the 
country has given place to the culture of the city. The 
strong Titus withdraws, and the timid Timothy ap- 
pears. All is changed save one — yea, two things: the 
fact and force of sin and the presence and power of 
God in his gospel to save. Paul's relation to Timothy 
constitutes one of the standing charms of the New 
Testament. Their first meeting was significant. It 
was during the course of Paul's first missionary jour- 
ney, away out in the wilds of South Galatia, in the 
neighborhood of Derbe and Lystra, that this love first 
leaped into life. It was born at the gates of death. 
For who can say that it was not Paul's heroic suffering 
of stoning for the cause of truth that first fired the 
faith of the youthful half Jew? And, inspired by this 
mighty exhibition of manhood, he forsook the twilight 
of Judaism for the full splendor of the Christian day. 
Another reason, too: Timothy is the sad spectacle of a 
youth reared without the sanction and example of a 
religious father. He had a noble mother and a de- 
voted grandmother. We thank God, as Paul did, for 
their training of him in godly things. But without 
any derogation of their zeal and industry, it must be 
said that Timothy carried to the day of his death, 
doubtless, the marks of an unfinished training. The 
mother can do a great deal, but neither she nor her 
mother can do all that is necessary in the training of 
the life of a boy. As long as we know him, Timothy 



190 Life and Letters of Paul 

shows a lack of virility and an overplus of timidity. 
O, if his father had only been a Jew or even a devout 
proselyte! But he was not. He was a heathen. Here, 
then, was a son that needed a father, and here in Paul 
was a father-heart that needed a son. What wonder 
that this romance of the soul of these two, beginning 
out in the wilds of heathenism, is cemented all the 
stronger as the years of labor and suffering and con- 
quest go by, and that it is finally consecrated and, so 
far as earth is concerned, consummated in the joyous 
meeting that we pray God did take place? 

"When in the last moments of his imprisonment, 
weighed down by a sense of weariness and loneliness 
and desertion, Paul forgets that he is a great preacher, 
a great organizer, a great theologian, a great philosopher 
— all these crowd out of his memory. He has no room 
for any feeling save the exquisite pang of paternity; 
he knows only that he has the heart of a great father, 
and in a sentence the pathos of which brings tears to 
our eyes to-day he cries out: "Use every effort to come 
to me at once." Let no curious eye desecrate that scene 
when, in the mutual embrace of father and son in the 
gospel, that Roman dungeon became the gateway to 
glory and its gloom was made radiant in the glow of a 
divinely perfected human affection. 

But we turn from this their last meeting on earth 
to their earlier relations. From their second mission- 
ary journey Timothy is. closely identified with Paul in 
all the perils and joys and sorrows of his missionary 
propaganda. At Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Corinth, 
Ephesus, again in Macedonia and Achaia — possibly he 
was with him during his Csesarean captivity; certainly 
he was with him in his first Roman imprisonment. 
These are just hints to show us how closely linked 
together were these two lives. It is no wonder, then, 
that when Paul needed a representative at Ephesus, the 
city where he had spent his longest pastorate and done 
his greatest work, he appeals to Timothy first with his 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 191 



a 



Who will go for me?" The reference that Paul makes 
to this appointment in 1 Timothy i. 3 seems to indicate 
that it took some persuasion on his part. We may 
readily surmise the reason for this. Timothy's natu- 
rally timid disposition, coupled with the hugeness of 
the task precipitated by such a center as Ephesus, com- 
bined with a commendable humility on his part as to 
the outcome of his stepping into Paul's shoes, is suf- 
ficient explanation. It was not any lack of love, but 
rather lack of confidence in his own resources, that 
made him falter. This, to my mind, is the key of a 
great deal that has confounded the critics in this 
epistle. They cannot see why it is that Paul gives so 
much superfluous information (as they call it) to such 
men as Timothy and Titus, who ought to know all 
about his personal experiences. They say: "Why does 
Paul treat Timothy and Titus, who for years have been 
true and tried friends, like small boys? Why does he 
tell them so many things they ought to know and really 
know already? Why burden the epistles to them with 
details of the apostle's conversion — and even precon- 
version — experience?" At first glance this objection 
seems formidable; and yet the more clearly we con- 
struct the conditions, the less pertinence it seems to 
have. 

To begin with, these men are practically missionary 
helpers facing hard problems of discipline and Church 
organization in difficult fields. This one fact, once 
recognized in all its implications, will do more than a 
score of commentaries to clear up the situation. What 
Timothy and Titus need is not so much instruction as 
inspiration; and if we read the references, say to Paul's 
conversion, in this light, we shall see that they are 
not pieces of superfluous impertinence, but levers of 
supreme value to lift these his representatives out of 
the pit of doubt and distrust and send them to their 
tasks with the momentum of a divine dynamic. Hence 



192 Life and Letters of Paul 

it is, we think, that, say, for example, in the first chap- 
ter of First Timothy, after outlining his task and call- 
ing to Timothy's mind the opposition he will encounter, 
Paul in the twelfth verse tells his own experience of 
the grace of God in Christ and in an exultant shout 
proclaims his gratitude that his life and work is such 
a signal demonstration of the power of the gospel. To 
read this passage as the effort of Paul to impart infor- 
mation is to miss completely its significance. To see 
in it an effort to impart inspiration is to put behind the 
timid Timothy the momentum of a mighty life and to 
fire a youthful heart with the flaming zeal of a veteran. 
One other point must be recognized, and that is the 
human element in all of this attitude of Paul to his 
younger brothers. He does not call them brothers, but 
his children. He is their spiritual father; they are his 
children in the faith. No man ever grows up in the' 
eyes of his father. We are always children to our 
parents. There is on record an incident related of a 
mother who lived to the great age of over a hundred 
years, exclaiming on the death of her eldest daughter, 
who passed away at the ripe age of threescore and six- 
teen: "0 the dear little darling! We never hoped that 
she would grow up." 

Another point may have had some weight. Not only 
the missionary task and the human relation authorize 
the attitude Paul assumes in these pages, but the grow- 
ing tendency of professionalism may have influenced 
him more than has been recognized to lay the emphasis 
on paternalism. He could not be blind to the fact that 
Church organization might fast degenerate into pro- 
fessionalism and that the petrifying processes of a 
mere mechanical system might speedily choke up the 
fountains of personal and vital relations. Paul's con- 
ception of the Church is not that of a machine, but an 
organism. It has power, but it is heart power; it has 
functions, yet these are not mechanical, but vital. 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 193 

Second Timothy 

In Second Timothy the scene shifts again. Paul is 
once more in prison, with no hope of release. To the 
personal sufferings he has been called upon to undergo 
is added the grief that all his friends are gone— some, 
sad to say, back to the world, others off to distant fields 
of labor. This leaves him lonely and sad. Where is 
the buoyancy and brilliance of the first imprisonment 
that gave rise to such letters as Philippians and Colos- 
sians? It does not exist. He has no time nor strength 
to fight over the old battles or to enterprise new con- 
quests. He has only time and strength to sing his 
swan song. To whom shall he pen his last will and 
testament save to Timothy, his dearly beloved son? 
And so with trembling lips he begins. Like all the ex- 
pressions of age, it is predominantly experiential. The 
apostle grows reminiscential. He begins with his life 
as a Jew; traces the influence of the gospel in his own 
character; takes in his sweep the experiences of Tim- 
othy too (iii. 10-13) as witness of what he has endured 
for the gospel; exhorts him to a continuance in stead- 
fastness; strives by all the power of logic and the ap- 
peal of love to instill into the marrow of the young 
man the iron tonic of his own faith and zeal; and after 
giving this glance at the past and sizing up present 
conditions confronting the Church and the Christian 
preacher, he looks with steady gaze and undimmed faith 
into the future. And as he looks forward his eyes 
brighten, his bosom heaves, his heart expands, his hope 
enlarges; earth recedes, his surroundings are trans- 
formed; Caesar drops out of sight, and Christ appears; 
the executioner's ax is welcomed as the key which 
opens paradise; the block is a stepping-stone to the 
skies; and under the momentum of a life lived upon 
earth, but based on eternal principles, "Paul the aged" 
sweeps through the gates of a felon's death to wear the 
crown of eternal life and hear the music of the Mas- 
ter's gracious greeting (iv. 6-8). 
13 



194 Life and Letters of Paul 

The Epistle to Philemon 

When Paul sent the letter to the Colossians, he sent 
along with Tychicus, the bearer of that epistle, another 
man, Onesimus, who carried to Philemon the writing 
we are to study now (Col. iv. 7-9). It might seem at 
first glance a great waste of time to give much consider- 
ation to the few verses that make up this little letter; 
but aside from the fact that this is the only strictly 
personal correspondence that has survived from the 
pen of Paul, there is a fund of intrinsic interest and 
beauty in the writing itself which will ever attract the 
attention of students of the New Testament as they 
read the romantic story of the rescue of the runaway 
slave and see in this little scrap of literature one of the 
finest glimpses of a truly Christian gentleman which 
the libraries of the world can show. 

True it is that this epistle was not appreciated by 
some in early times. Jerome reports some as saying: 
"Either this epistle is not Paul's, or else, if it is Paul's, 
there is nothing in it for edification." The counter 
statement of this father is, of course, far more true. 
His judgment is: "It is flooded with gospel grace." 
Certainly the greatest New Testament students have 
not been chary in their praise of this beautiful gem 
in the casket of our canon. Bengel declared that it 
was "wonderfully polite. " Francke said: "The one Epis- 
tle to Philemon surpasses by far all the wisdom of the 
world." Bishop Ellicott characterized it as "an ex- 
quisite piece of persuasive tact and an enduring monu- 
ment of Christian courtesy." Renan, one of the most 
expert of literary critics, called it "a veritable chef* 
d'ceuvre in the art of letter-writing." And we may 
rest assured that these testimonies are true. No letter 
shows Paul in a better light, for here all the profes- 
sional is in abeyance and the purely personal comes 
to the front. The apostle and the polemic retire, and 
only the Christian and the gentleman appear. 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 195 

Great performances we have had from the pen of 
Paul! The pastoral pleading to the Thessalonians, the 
emancipation proclamation to the Galatians, the great 
application of Christianity to social conditions we have 
in Corinthians, the wonderful survey of the religious 
history of the race we have studied in Romans, the 
marvelous sweep of Christological conception we see 
in Colossians — all these mighty utterances are well 
worthy of all our effort to interpret them. But in all 
these there is the excitement of conflict, the inspiration 
of a great theme, the heat of controversy, the marshal- 
ing of logic, and the consciousness of intellectual and 
spiritual supremacy over all opponents. But in this 
small writing all these large things are lacking. Who 
is going to get much inspiration out of the sewers of 
Rome? What chances for effective climax in the short 
space of twenty-five verses? True; but here is where 
the great man really shines, not with the light bor- 
rowed from his surroundings, but in the clear atmos- 
phere of his own largeness of soul. And, after all, God's 
great purpose was not to make a preacher or a polemic 
or a pastor out of Paul, but a large-hearted, majestic 
man. To transform the narrow, bigoted soul, the proud 
Pharisee, into the great apostle to the Gentiles is in- 
deed a work of divine grace; but to make this apostle 
a father to one of society's scapegoats takes a grace of 
even a diviner sort, for it is much easier to meet the 
demands of any profession than to come up to the 
measure of manhood. Doubtless there have been per- 
fect physicians, lawyers, teachers, preachers; but only 
God has been a perfect man, and only those whose life is 
hid with Christ in God are able to approximate this per- 
fection in the truest and highest sense. It is well to re- 
peat that Paul is never greater than he is in these few 
lines which breathe so graciously the spirit of the true 
Christian gentleman. 
As the letter is so short, we need not bother ourselves 



196 Life and Letters of Paul 

with anything like a formal analysis, but simply set 
forth the places, the persons, and the problem involved. 

The Places 

The places involved are two: one away to the west 
(Rome, where Paul is in captivity) and the other away 
to the east (Colosse, the home of Philemon). They 
were distant, as the crow flies, about nine hundred 
miles, or about twelve hundred miles by the usual land 
or water routes. Some, indeed, by reason of this great 
distance have thought that it was not Rome where Paul 
was in prison, but Caesarea, owing to the fact that it 
would be much easier for a runaway slave to reach the 
Asian prison than the Roman. But such reasoning for- 
gets two things: first, that "all roads led to Rome" in 
that day; and, second, that a runaway slave would see 
to it that he put as much distance as possible between 
himself and his aggrieved master and would look upon 
the crowded imperial city as the best place in the world 
in which to lose himself. 

Colosse belonged to the district of the Lycus Valley, 
in Asia Minor, a section of the country to which Luke 
refers in Acts xix. 10, when he declares that, as a result 
of Paul's continuing in Ephesus, "All they that dwelt 
in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and 
Greeks." While Paul himself does not seem to have 
preached at Colosse (Col. ii. 1), yet this evangelistic 
work seems to have been superintended by him from 
Ephesus as a center. 

The Persons 

The persons in Rome are, first of all, Paul and Tim- 
othy, whom he unites with himself in the salutation. 
Presumably it is just at the middle of the two years' 
imprisonment referred to in the last verse of Acts. Suf- 
ficient time has elapsed for the news of the condition 
of affairs at Colosse to reach Paul, and enough time 
has passed for Onesimus to iind his way thither. 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 197 

The home at Colosse seems to be made up of three 
persons. First, there is Philemon. Scholars report two 
other occasions when this name figures in literature; 
both times, too, it is in connection with Phrygia, from 
which our present character hails. One of these in- 
stances is in the "Birds" of Aristophanes, the other is 
the familiar story of Philemon and Baucis as narrated 
in Ovid's "Metamorphoses." As to the present holder 
of the name, it is sufficiently clear from references in 
this letter (1) that he was a convert of Paul (verse 
19), (2) that he was rich enough to own slaves and 
afford hospitality (verses 2, 5, 7), and (3) that he was 
an earnest Christian worker. In proof of this last point 
these two glimpses suffice: Paul speaks of the Church 
in his house and also classes him as one of his fellow 
workers. 

The second person, Apphia, is presumably the wife of 
Philemon. At any rate, the term "sister" applied to 
her (verse 2) means that she is a Christian believer. 
The third name among the addresses, Archippus, is 
taken to refer to their son. Once again (Col. iv. 17) 
Paul refers to him in the ever-memorable words: "Say 
to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou 
hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it." From 
this it is evident that he held office in the Church, espe- 
cially in view of the fact that in this letter Paul calls 
him a "fellow soldier," a name not elsewhere applied by 
him save to Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 25). 

But, however great and interesting all these names, 
by far the most important person in this letter is not 
Paul the writer, nor Philemon the recipient, but Onesi- 
mus the runaway slave. The fact that he figures at all 
in the New Testament literature is positive proof of the 
transcendent character of Christianity. The literature 
of Greece and Rome for the most part held up the slave 
either to ridicule or reproach; usually it was both. 
Poets and philosophers vie with each other in heaping 
degradation upon this member of society. In fact, some 



198 Life and Letters of Paul 

went so far as to deny that the slave class was a section 
of society at all, even going to the extreme of denying 
the slave the ordinary faculties of a man. Aristotle, in 
his "Politics," declared, "The slave is simply a living 
chattel ;" and in his "Ethics" he affirmed: "The slave 
is a living tool, and the tool is a lifeless slave." Varro, 
among the Romans, in classifying the implements of 
agricultural life says: "There are three sorts: vocal, 
semivocal, and mute. The vocal ones are slaves, the 
semivocal are oxen, and the mute are plows." Even 
the Roman Digest declared that a slave had no legal 
rights. Being without protection of law, it is no won- 
der that he frequently became a defier of law; and 
some of the bloodiest chapters of ancient history are 
those which describe the outbreaks of the slave classes 
roused to revenge against the conditions that enthralled 
them. 

But more than being a slave, Onesimus was a Phry- 
gian slave; and throughout all ancient literature it is 
the Phrygian slave that takes the palm for all that is 
supremely villainous. But to cap the climax, he was a 
runaway slave, and probably a thief as well (verse 
18). And so with this triple incubus of infamy, this 
degraded creature, despised by the very social order 
that had robbed him of every inspiration of manhood 
and degraded him to the low level of a beast — this 
wretch hies himself off to Rome, the common cesspool 
of ancient civilization, with doubtless no other thought 
than to drown whatever remnant of conscience he may 
have possessed in the iniquity there rampant and to 
wreak what vengeance he could upon the social order 
that had made his misery possible. But the runaway 
slave met the great Christian preacher, and all was 
changed. How did he meet him? Did he happen to 
run across his fellow countryman Epaphras? and was 
he by him lured into the presence of the loving evan- 
gelist? Or was he in need of food? and did necessity 
strengthen his memory sufficiently to recall in some 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 199 

dim fashion the name of the man who had such a hold 
on the heartstrings of the old home in Colosse? Or 
was it that conscience, so long asleep, began to rouse 
itself amid an environment of wickedness greater than 
that his own heart had ever conceived? Was it any 
one of these things that finally caused him to wend his 
way to the hired house of "Paul the aged"? We know 
not. But, at any rate, he met Paul, was converted, and 
evidently gave great promise of becoming a most effi- 
cient Christian worker. What a miracle that Paul should 
interest himself in a slave, and that this slave should 
become his friend, yea, more, a beloved son, begotten 
in his bonds! Aristotle was fond of saying that it was 
not right for one to be a friend to a slave any more 
than to a horse or an ox. But Paul's vision was keener; 
he could see distinctions that were impossible to "the 
mighty Stagirite." By the wisdom not of this world he 
could see the difference between an animal and a man. 
Christianity does easily what science dares not at- 
tempt: it sees the divine spark in even the most de- 
generate types. So Paul could love a slave. 

The Problem 

All this might have been, and yet we should not have 
been studying the letter to-day % The letter exists be- 
cause of the problem that was precipitated by the con- 
version of Onesimus. As his name indicates, he had 
once given promise of being a good slave, for his mas- 
ter had dubbed him "Profitable." Now he had proved 
recreant; and had not Paul crossed his path and Christ 
entered into his heart, doubtless he would have gone 
to his death a degenerate. But the moment he was 
converted the gospel laid upon him the responsibility 
of confession and restitution so far as lay in his power. 
But the sequel, if he should be returned to his master! 
Who could doubt, knowing the condition of the times, 
what would happen? Crucifixion was considered a mild 
punishment in such a case as this. In fact, the cross 



200 Life and Letters of Paul 

was the constant terror of the slaves who incurred 
even the slight displeasure of their masters. One of 
the most pathetic passages in all literature is where a 
slave in one of Plautus's plays protests: "Don't threaten 
me; I know the cross will be my grave. There were 
my ancestors planted — father, grandfather, great-grand- 
father, great-great-grandfather." Think of a man 
whose only genealogical tree was a forest of crosses! 
For what else could Onesimus hope? Still the law of 
Christian discipleship is inexorable; he could not be a 
true Christian in Rome and not make an honest effort 
to right the wrong he had done his master in Colosse. 
Therefore he is willing to return, though it takes him 
from the side of his one friend and may carry him to 
a cross. Paul's phase of the problem was this: Here 
was a grand illustration of the power of the gospel, "a 
brand snatched from the burning." He had already 
written a letter to the Romans (and a majestic message 
it was) ; but here was a living epistle, a slave trans- 
formed into a saint, a beast made into a brother, and 
his heart was burning with love to his benefactor. He 
was eager to stay with him and by a life of constant 
service to some extent repay the infinite debt of grati- 
tude he owed to the man who had befriended him in 
the hour of his sore distress. What an argument for 
the religion of Jesus did Paul see in the slave Onesi- 
mus, now a redeemed freeman in the Lord! What sal- 
vation might come to the slums of Rome if he could 
only retain this miracle of grace as an advertisement 
of Christ's power to cleanse and purify! There is no 
doubt that this little letter, under the stress of these 
temptations, caused Paul more real effort than all his 
fulminations in Galatians and his inspiring exhorta- 
tions in Romans and Corinthians. There he was stulti- 
fying his foes and edifying his friends; but here he is 
crucifying himself as he tears out his very heart (verse 
12) and sends away from him the man that would 
mean most to his work and to himself in the toil- 



Pastoral and Personal Correspondence 201 

someness and lonesomeness of his Roman imprison- 
ment. 

But not Onesimus's fears nor Paul's desires are al- 
lowed to control. Philemon, the master, has rights that 
must be respected, and this is the phase of the problem 
that decides the question. Paul pens his greatest sen- 
tence when he declares (verse 14) : "But without thy 
mind I was not willing to do anything." For here he 
declares that he will not sacrifice right at any time or 
under any circumstances to pleasure or convenience. 
And Paul never rises higher than when in verse 8 he 
declares: "Though I have all boldness to enjoin, yet for 
love's sake I rather beseech." But while Philemon has 
his rights as a master, he has also his duty as a Chris- 
tian; and to this sense of Christian obligation Paul 
makes appeal as well: "For perhaps he was therefore 
parted from thee for a season, that thou shouldst have 
him forever; no longer as a servant, but more than a 
servant, a brother beloved." 

Need we ask whether Paul was disappointed in his 
appeal? Philemon could not refuse if he were the 
Christian Paul thought him to be and knew he was 
(see verses 4-7); and it needs only a bit of historic 
imagination to picture the home-coming when Philemon, 
Apphia, and Archippus welcomed back the penitent 
Onesimus. Here is indeed a real prodigal's return, 
with no elder brother's malice to mar the beauty of the 
scene. 

And right here in the heavenly atmosphere of this 
far-away Colossian home scene let us, following the 
order of our English Bible, take our leave of Paul and 
with him render grateful thanks to God for the power 
of a gospel that makes God's kingdom come on earth. 
No wonder that when his time came to leave this 
world the man who in the providence of God had made 
this scene possible cried out in humble yet exultant 
faith: "I am ready to go; . . . henceforth T have 
a crown." 



202 Life and Letters of Paul 

1. What are the pastoral epistles? Why so called? And 
Should our study begin from the viewpoint of the 
Church, the institution, or from that of the personal 
relations of Paul and his pastoral helpers? 

2. What are the biographical facts, hints, and suppo- 
sitions available concerning Titus? 

3. Show the appropriateness to the people of Crete of 
the letter to Titus. 

4. Give the story of Timothy, including Paul's friend- 
ship for him and his services to his father in the faith. 

5. How do you meet the critical difficulties arising 
from the many personal reminiscences in the letters to 
Timothy and Titus, matters that they must certainly 
have been quite familiar with? 

6. What sort of a change of environment meets you 
as you pass from Titus in his diocese on the island of 
Crete to Timothy in the city of Ephesus? 

7. What change in Paul's own condition had occurred 
between the writing of the first and the second letters to 
Timothy, and how did that change affect the outlook and 
mood of the writing? 

8. What three characteristics of the letter to Philemon 
impart to this brief writing an interest out of propor- 
tion to its length? 

9. Rome, Colosse — the place where Paul was impris- 
oned and the place where Philemon lived — what story 
do the names and geographic separation of these two 
cities tell of the extension and influence of the gospel 
in Paul's later days? 

10. Give the story of the flight and conversion of Onesi- 
mus and explain its significance in the light of the 
ancient institution of slavery. 

11. In what difficult situation was Paul placed by his 
new relation to Onesimus, and how did he meet it? 



XXII. THE APPROACH TO PAUL 

There are many ways in which we may profitably 
approach a man of such towering proportions as Paul. 
We may, for example, approach him from the stand- 
point of a quantitative comparison, I mean by this 
that we may take up our New Testament, as far as we 
can in the original form, and, picking out all books that 
bear any discernible trace of the great apostle's influ- 
ence and eliminating the rest, we may make a rough 
estimate gf his contribution to Christianity. Even this 
crude method would startle most of us by its results. 
I have at hand a Greek Testament consisting of twen- 
ty-seven books written by nine or ten authors and con- 
taining five hundred and thirty-nine pages. Of these 
pages one hundred and fifty, or over one-fourth, and 
of these books thirteen, or nearly one-half, are from 
Paul's pen, though the odds of authorship are at least 
eight to one! 

But this disproportion, large as it is in Paul's favor, 
can certainly be legitimately increased when we include, 
as we must, three other of the longest books, since these 
are palpably dominated by his presence or get their in- 
spiration from his influence. These are the Acts, He- 
brews, and Luke's Gospel. We need not, of course, go 
to the extreme of Tertullian and say that Luke was a 
convert of Paul, still we must agree with him that Paul 
was his magister and illuminator; and only in the light 
of the life of the great apostle to the Gentiles can we 
explain the motive that prompted the history of the ex- 
pansion of Christianity from the upper room in Jeru- 
salem to the palace of the Caesars in Rome and gave to 
us that beautifully human interpretation of the life of 
our Loud which constitutes the perpetual charm of the 
third Gospel. With regard to the Epistle to the He- 

(203) 



204 Life and Letters of Paul 

brews, while we may not be able to embrace the subtle 
suggestion of a great German that the recurrence of the 
two "Pols" in the first line of this majestic message is 
the happy cryptic hit upon by the apostle to avow his 
authorship of the writing; and while we must go even 
further in the admission of our lack of definite opinion 
and confess with Origen that only God knows really who 
wrote this book, still we have no need of tapping the 
sources of divine illumination to discover the influence 
that dominates its point of view; for even the limited 
sagacity of a sciolist in Scripture is sufficient to detect 
in the great principles that underlie this Melchizedek 
among the manuscripts the familiar note of Pauline 
teaching, though of course the fire and impetuous logic 
of the master have been largely superseded by the glow 
and rolling rhetoric of the pupil. By adding these three 
to the personal writings of the apostle we add one hun- 
dred and sixty pages to his credit as a contributor to 
our New Testament, thus making him directly or indi- 
rectly responsible for more than one-half of both books 
and pages that constitute our Christian covenant! But 
we can carry this even further. The Apocalypse was 
written to the Churches of Asia Minor, and John's Gos- 
pel and First Epistle were presumably directed to the 
Church at Ephesus. Paul was, however, the founder of 
that Ephesian Church and the pioneer preacher of that 
whole territory; and had it not been for his antecedent 
aggressiveness and his limitless labors, we may well 
question whether even the apostle of love would ever 
have had such a suitable center of operation or such a 
splendid constituency with which to correspond. And 
so with Peter. Had not Paul set the pace and showed 
the older apostle by ocular demonstration the inevitable 
logic of foreign missions as embodying the very life of 
Christianity, we may well doubt whether the great apos- 
tle of the circumcision, in spite of his vision in the case 
of Cornelius — we may well doubt, I say, whether he 
would have ever found it in his heart, much less in his 



The Approach to Paul 205 

power, to send his loving message to the Christianized 
heathen of Cappadocia and the contiguous provinces; 
nor would he have had the incentive or the occasion to 
stamp the impress of his own personality on Mark's Gos- 
pel to the Roman world had there not lived in his pres- 
ence a man who, though a Jew, had the breadth of soul 
to declare from the moment of his first realization of 
the universal sweep of Christianity: "I must also see 
Rome." So that it is not going too far to say that, with 
the possible exception of the two private letters at- 
tributed to John, the two epistles from James and Jude 
(brothers of our Lord), and the Gospel of Matthew (one 
of the original Twelve), Paul is more or less intimately 
connected with everything in our New Testament. And 
even in the case of the exceptions, unless we believe that 
James is the earliest written of all our canonical au- 
thorities, Paul by his own genius for initiative started 
the literary career of Christianity and so set the norm 
and determined to a large extent the form of all that 
was to follow. 

But the quantitative test may be crude and shallow. 
Let us turn to a brief qualitative analysis of Paul's con- 
tribution to the New Testament. And here, while there 
will be different opinions due to the varying moods and 
tastes of readers, yet none will be so bold as to say that 
any other single writer or all of them combined can 
discount Paul in his elucidation and illustration of the 
principles of Christianity. It is true that, owing to a 
tragic fact which neither he nor we can understand, he 
never saw the Lord in the flesh, nor did he catch the 
words of life as they fell from his lips— he was "born 
out of due time," and the lives of the two did not lap on 
earth. This is the explanation of the fact that we must 
go to others for the message of the Master's spoken 
word. But even so, Paul learned everything he could; 
for full fifteen days he pumped the loquacious Simon, 
plying him with questions whose answers must have 
brought to him much of the substance of the Saviour's 



206 Life and Letters of Paul 

speeches from the lips of one who had been his constant 
companion and most eager auditor. And as the case 
stands, we owe to him at least one saying of our Lord 
which even those who drank in the Sermon on the 
Mount and the last discourses failed to record. For it is 
Paul, and Paul alone, who has transmitted to us that 
one sentence which more clearly than any other one 
sentence sets before us the fundamental principle of 
Christ's whole life and ministry: "It is more blessed 
to give than to receive." 

But when we leave the form and look at the spirit 
and comprehensiveness of the Master's teaching, there 
can be no doubt that here Paul stands without a peer. 
There are only two possible rivals — the "Great Un- 
known" who addressed the Hebrews and the author of 
the fourth Gospel. But the one is set aside from the 
single consideration that, though he is "eloquent and 
mighty in the Scriptures," still his message is purely 
local and largely negative. He will be satisfied if he 
can keep a single Church or group of contiguous Chris- 
tians from reverting to Judaism. It is true that this is 
a worthy aim, and it is worked out with a grandeur of 
style and majesty of movement which even Paul might 
not be able to parallel; but how poor and artificial at 
times does it appear when compared with the consum- 
ing earnestness of him who said: "I become all things 
to all men if so be that I may save some"! And as for 
John, though he rightly wears the title of the Apostle 
of Love, it were well for us to recall that long before 
he put pen to parchment, and in all probability long 
before he had the spiritual development requisite so to 
do, Paul had written his matchless psalm to the Corinth- 
ian Church and had thereby given final expression to 
the ne plus ultra of Christianity. 

Then let us look for a moment at the comprehensive- 
ness of Paul's application of this great Christian prin- 
ciple to the manifold experiences and relationships of 
human life. Regard his attention to the home, the unit 



The Approach to Paul 207 

of society. It is Paul's words that give us the Chris- 
tian marriage ceremony; it is Paul's words that ring 
with exhortation strong and insistent in the ears of fa- 
thers and mothers to bring up their children in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord; it is this same Paul 
who turns to these little ones and in words of wisdom 
and loving entreaty bids them obey their parents in all 
things. But the family circle is not yet complete; there 
are the servants — the slaves who up to Paul's time get 
scant notice in literature save that of jeers and curses. 
For these Paul has a large and sympathetic message — 
a message that appeals to them as human beings and not 
chattels, a message which inspires afresh the spark of 
manhood which his Christly vision is able to detect in 
every one for whom the Saviour died. 

Next to the home, the unit of society, stands the 
Church, the unit of the kingdom of God. Heio Paul is 
unquestionably without a parallel. No man in apostolic 
days founded more Churches, met more problems of 
ecclesiastical organization, or labored harder to perfect 
Christian discipline. His ideal of the Church as the 
body of Christ and each believer as a member of that 
body is noble in its simplicity and thrilling in the in- 
spiration it supplies. If a man of the twentieth cen- 
tury wants to belong to the Church of Christ and do his 
duty, he can do no better than go to school to Paul; 
for there he will get a great ideal, he will catch the con- 
tagion of a noble enthusiasm, his zeal will be kindled 
by the glowing earnestness of a devoted fellow member, 
and his faith will be ever quickened by the constant 
vision of an ultimately triumphant cause. 

Next to the home, the unit of society, and the Church, 
the unit of the kingdom of God, comes the State, the 
unit of civilization. Paul is the one great citizen of 
apostolic days. He is the one writer who insists on the 
majesty of law, the function of government, and the ob- 
ligations of citizenship. He had in his own experience 
reaped too large a benefit from the civilization of his 



208 Life and Letters of Paul 

day for him to fail to acknowledge that it was one of 
his preferred creditors. Rome had given him roads to 
travel on in his missionary journeys; she had developed 
great cities where he could find strategic centers for the 
propagation of his gospel; she had shielded him from 
bodily hurt and insolent attack by flinging over his per- 
son her own imperial aegis; and finally, by the geograph- 
ical extent and the splendid military organization of 
her mighty empire, Rome had thrilled Paul's soul with 
a glorious vision of a world brought into captivity to 
Christ. No wonder he insists on the payment of taxes, 
the maintenance of order, and the conscientious dis- 
charge of civic obligations. No wonder that, as we look 
at the progress of civilization since his day, we find 
that the States which have been founded on and fostered 
in his teachings have been and are still the most perma- 
nent and the most beneficent in all history. 

But after a man has discharged faithfully all these 
relations of life, there still remains the last debt — the 
debt to nature he must liquidate. Paul does not for- 
sake us here. His gospel has not only the promise of 
the life that now is, but also the promise of that which 
is to come. As he greeted us at the marriage altar, so 
he stands by us at the open grave. It is with Paul's 
words that we consign our loved ones to the tomb; and 
it is with the energy of the faith his resurrection paean 
has inspired that their spirits leap the gloomy gulf of 
death and wing their way to light and immortality. 

Taken for granted, then, that we have some fair con- 
ception of the size of Paul's contribution to our knowl- 
edge of apostolic Christianity, and that we have gained 
some glimpse of the spirit and comprehensiveness of his 
interpretation of its fundamental principle and univer- 
sal scope, we may now approach him from another 
standpoint — namely, that of his own personality. We 
must, in other words, get as close as we can to the mys- 
tery of his self-consciousness and the secret of his self- 
determination, for these are the dual elements of person- 



The Approach to Paul 209 

ality. "Self-consciousness is the soul's utterance, *I 
am' ; self-determination is the soul's assertion, 'I will.' " 
In seeking an answer to the question, "Who was 
Paul?" we must, of course, get an accurate picture of 
the world in which he lived. We must know, as far as 
possible, the environment of the man, his early train- 
ing, the currents of life that touched him and the di- 
rection and power of their flow, and we must try to es- 
timate their probable influence in affecting his course. 
Again, we must give due emphasis to his heredity, rec- 
ognizing the fact that he strikes his age with a momen- 
tum that has been gathering since the days of Moses — 
yea, in some respects even antedating Abraham. And 
we must recall that the impact of this impetus is all the 
greater by reason of the fact that it nearly all comes 
through the narrow channel of Judaism. We must, in 
the third place, allow due credit to the personal equa* 
tion of mental, moral, and spiritual elements contrib- 
uted by Paul's own character; for, however modified, he 
would have been himself amid any environment or with 
any heredity. But the most important thing to empha- 
size in Paul, if we wish to approach him appreciative- 
ly, is seen when we turn to the second phase of his per- 
sonality — namely, his self-determination. What is the 
secret here? The core of it is certainly his religious 
experience— his initial vision of Christ and his con- 
tinued companionship with him ever thereafter. His 
personality on the side of self-consciousness is summed 
up for us in his own words, "I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me"; his personality on the side of self-determi- 
nation is just as tersely summarized: "I can do all things 
through Christ which strengtheneth me." It is here 
that so many interpreters run afoul of Paul. They know 
his environment perfectly; they measure with marvel- 
ous accuracy the rich and varied inheritance of his 
heredity; they register in vivid terms the extraordinary 
equipment of the man; but they have no point of con- 
tact with him when they begin to discuss his religious 
14 



210 Life and Letters of Paul 

experience, which to Paul is the main thing of his life. 
The anomaly of this condition is emphasized when we 
recall that all students are one in insisting that the 
great apostle's doctrines grow out of his experience; 
and the query naturally arises: If Paul had to have a 
definite experience with Christ in order to have a foun- 
dation for his theology, does not his critic or interpreter 
have to have some such vital experience in order to be 
in a position fairly to get at his meaning? For here, 
too, the great principle holds true that the heart makes 
the theologian. No fair-minded man would set himself 
up as a first-hand interpreter of Paul who had not made 
a patient and measurably successful study of Greek, the 
language in which the apostle couched his message. But 
Greek is. simply the shell of Paul; the kernel is some- 
thing far different. A man may be an expert in lan- 
guage and still a tyro in religion; he may be the world's 
authority on questions of archaeology, history, science, 
literature, and what not and still be a veritable ninny 
in Christian experience; he may be a full-grown man 
in theology and still have not yet been born into the 
kingdom of God. He that is least in this kingdom is 
greater than the greatest in every other realm when it 
comes to appreciating the messages that come from the 
heart of God. For these messages are rarely heard in 
the thunder of logical discussion; they are rarely seen 
amid the fires of fierce criticism; they are rarely felt 
in the earthquakes of theological upheaval; they are 
not borne to us on the blustering winds of an arrant 
and conceited dogmatism, whether radical or conserva- 
tive; but they find their way into the souls of men 
through the still small voice of spiritual deliverance. 
So that the "best single commentary on Paul is the pos- 
session of the experience of Christian conversion and 
the enjoyment of communion with Christ. For all 
analogy bears out the truth that only the man of Chris- 
tian experience can rightly interpret Christian thought 
and language. Music is mute to him who has no sou] 



The Approach to Paul 211 

for harmony; art is a travesty to him who has no eye 
for beauty; poetry is prose to him who has no ear for 
rhythm; a man must be born from above before he can 
enter any of these kingdoms. Is it easier to enter the 
kingdom of hermeneutics? The answer of history too 
is clear. All the great interpreters of Paul so far have 
been men who first of all, before they could understand 
and apply Paul, had a definite experience which brought 
them into personal relations with a supernatural Christ. 
Augustine, Luther, Wesley did not, of course, have all 
the same experience; but they each had a transforming 
experience with Christ, and when they picked up Paul 
he was not talking to them in an unknown tongue. Can 
we doubt that such will be the characteristic of the 
twentieth-century interpreter who will be God's instru- 
ment in blessing the world with a fresh vision of the 
mind of this marvelous man? For, as has been said by 
a recent writer, it remains forever true that "back of 
an exact knowledge of recent philological, archaeolog- 
ical, and anthropological investigations, back even of a 
trained historical imagination, the fundamental require- 
ment for true exegesis is a personal relation to Jesus 

Christ," 



XXIII. THE EVER-ENLARGING GOSPEL 

OF PAUL 

Paul was converted by Christ somewhere between 
thirty and thirty-seven and was martyred by men some- 
where between fifty-eight and sixty-seven, so the chro- 
nologists conclude. The dates may be dubious, but the 
facts are fixed. Taking the extremes, he had a Christian 
career of from twenty-eight to thirty-seven years. The 
average of these two is about one generation of human 
life. In these thirty and three years Paul had a de- 
velopment of character and an expansion of soul that 
are the marvel of the centuries. So great indeed was 
his growth that many modern critics who have not ex- 
panded one iota since they accepted the narrow creed of 
Baur ("I believe in a quarrel between Peter and Paul, 
and that Acts is a futile attempt to patch it over") are 
disposed to deny all development to Paul and to use the 
subjective standard thus conceived as the scissors with 
which they cut the cloth of the great apostle's genius to 
fit the narrow pattern of their own theory. And so we 
find them slashing away at such writings as Colossians, 
Ephesians, and the Pastorals and trying to lop them off 
from the list of true Pauline productions because, for- 
sooth, they contain ideas and forms of expression that 
are not found in the earlier communications of the apos- 
tle to the Churches in Galatia, Corinth, and Rome! It 
is doubtless true that huge drafts such as these great 
productions undoubtedly are would drain the resources 
and probably drive into intellectual bankruptcy most 
of us moderns, especially if they were drawn in such 
rapid succession — all in less than four years! And so 
we would fain comfort ourselves with the thought that 
Paul, too, was afflicted with the disease that so maims 
the modern world — mental paresis and its consequent 
(212) 



The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 213 

paucity of ideas! Still, on sober second thought, we are 
probably more nearly right in believing that the man 
who could pen the "emancipation proclamation of ear- 
ly Christianity/' the immortal paean of the resurrection, 
and that magnificent climax of evangelical eloquence 
which closes the eighth chapter of Romans — that this 
man had to be able to do a great deal more in order to 
do this much. We shall not therefore feel called upon 
to bow the knee of abject subservience to those critics 
whose slogan with regard to the sources of Pauline 
teaching is: "These four and no more." And this we 
do with less temerity for the reason that even such ex- 
ponents of advanced criticism as Von Soden and Jii- 
licher find it possible to enlarge the list — the one to 
eight and the other to ten letters that may be allowed 
to Paul. If the brilliant baron of Berlin and the learned 
master of Marburg, when applying the rigid canons of 
an exclusively scholastic criticism, can go so far, surely 
it is possible for practical Christians, who have often- 
times what the professional scholar so sadly lacks — a 
constant touch with human conditions as they really 
are — it ought to be possible, I say, for them by the exer- 
cise of a little historic imagination and a little faith in 
the general trustworthiness of Christian tradition to go 
the whole gamut and still be confident that when they 
read any New Testament book the first word of which 
is "Paul" they are in direct communication with the 
apostle himself and not catching a faint reflection or 
being caught by a sly forger of later times. The mes- 
sage of these books is the message of the living voice, 
not that of post-morten echo. The number of letters 
that have this great name as their first word is thirteen. 
If any ill luck attaches to the number, we must believe 
that it bodes disaster to the dictum of those who declare 
that Paul was a stationary soul and had no progressive 
stages of intellectual and spiritual development. 

When we come to study this development, however, 
we find that it was a development of application and of 



214 Life and Letters of Paul 

that revelation which comes through life and action. It 
is hardly fair to Paul or true to the facts to insist so 
exclusively on what is called the development of his 
doctrine. Some larger term is necessary. It is not fair 
to Paul, for we must not conceive of him as getting hold 
of fragments of truth from time to time and adding 
these together as a man would by dint of fortunate dis- 
covery and niggardly economy add to his store of wealth. 
What Paul had in the shape of a message for men was 
by no means so material as this. Then, too, it is not 
true to the facts. Paul rarely uses the word "doctrine," 
but he is full to overflowing of what he calls his "gospel." 
This is the term he uses to describe the content of his 
message. Its salient features are clearly and strongly 
put in 1 Corinthians xv. 1-11. The death, the burial, 
the resurrection, and the appearance of Christ consti- 
tute its outstanding features. And this is the apostolic 
gospel — the gospel of Peter, of James, of John, or of 
any other man that has a gospel — for he continues: 
"Whether I or they — so we preach and ye believed." 
This concluding word declares that it is not only the 
gospel of the preacher, but also the gospel of the pew. 
Let us have done with that hellish heresy that the 
preacher has some esoteric experience from which the 
people are debarred. When it comes to the gospel, all 
are on the same platform and lie there in the indescrib- 
able pathos of their spiritual poverty. The gospel levels 
and then lifts; Christ's opening paradox is that the 
kingdom of heaven is in the possession of the poor in 
spirit. And the gospel is the announcement of the in- 
finite deed of Him who, though he was rich, yet for our 
sakes became poor that we through his poverty might 
become infinitely rich. Now, it stands to reason that 
there can be no development in the matter of these fun- 
damental verities of the faith. They are absolutes. 
Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was raised, Christ 
appeared — these are facts made known by competent 
testimony, verifiable in individual experience and irre- 



The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 215 

fragable in their power to transform the life of him 
who accepts and acts upon them. There can be no de- 
velopment here. As early as we hear the gospel we 
hear this. So soon as we see an apostolic preacher we 
see a herald who witnesses to these facts. The gospel 
began with the jubilant note: "The Lord is risen and 
hath appeared! * This is how it has continued all through 
the centuries — the preacher has proclaimed a risen 
Christ, and the hearer has appropriated a living Lord. 
And as earth does not add to this, so heaven itself does 
not exhaust its content; for there, too, he is the first 
and the last and the Living One and is identified to his 
adoring disciple not by the voice of thunder nor the 
resplendent robes nor the golden girdle, nor the sharp 
sword, nor even the countenance that outshines the sun, 
but by that majestic utterance which couples the experi- 
ence of Black Friday with that of Easter Sunday: "I 
was dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore!" This 
is the only gospel that can transform earth; this is the 
only gospel that will be recognized in heaven. Hence 
to talk about development here is to falsify the record 
and blaspheme the truth. 

There is large room, however, for development in the 
implications involved in such a gospel, in the applica- 
tion of its great principles, and in the ever-growing ap- 
preciation of the transcendent significance of its Source. 
Here is where Paul was continually coming upon new 
phases of the ever-expanding gospel, new incentives for 
men to yield to, and new visions of the wondrous Per- 
son that had made it all possible. 

And first as to the implications involved: For such a 
death of such a Person there must be some adequate 
cause. Here comes in Paul's system of teaching con- 
cerning sin and law and the relations they sustain to 
each other and to the Christian revelation. We may 
well believe that his ideas were gradually formed as he 
studied and preached and practiced the principles of 
Christianity. Even before his vision of Christ he had 



216 Life and Letters of Paul 

had experience with law and sin, for the former had 
made him painfully aware of the latter. When Christ 
appeared upon the scene, at once Paul had to relate 
him to law, the divine demand, and to sin, the human 
defection. There is no reason to think that Paul jumped 
hastily at his conclusions. His experience was doubt- 
less that of most men. It took the pressure of outward 
conflict to concentrate and clarify his ideas. This con- 
flict was furnished by the Judaistic controversy. This 
was the external leverage that lifted Paul into promi- 
nence as one of the masters of theological disputation. 
If Christ is the propitiation for sin, and if he frees us 
from the bondage of law, obviously some theory of re- 
demption is perfectly legitimate. But this theory need 
not be absolute for Paul or any other man. Like any 
other theory, it awaits modification in response to new 
facts that may come to light either through observation 
or experience. And so we may well believe that Paul's 
statement of his teaching got to be more definite and 
logical in his own mind the more he preached and prac- 
ticed the gospel. We cannot trace this process, how- 
ever, for the first verse of First Thessalonians is as sure 
in its tone and as full in its implications as the last 
verse of Second Timothy. While we may agree with 
some critics in saying that Paul's first letter is the least 
theological, still we must contend that it is only so ex- 
plicitly; implicitly it contains the germ of all the great 
Pauline teachings. Take its Christology, for this must 
ever be the test of a standing or a falling gospel. It is 
profoundly true with regard to the Person of our Lord 
that even in this simple missionary message of an ab- 
sent pastor "the plummet of dogma can drop no deeper, 
the wing of adoration can soar no higher." And why 
should this not be true? Paul had at the time of this 
writing been a preacher for full fifteen years. He had 
preached a gospel that had saved his fellow townsmen 
at Tarsus; he had headed a magnificent work at Antioch 
(so great that the movement outgrew all its former des- 



The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 217 

ignations and limitations) ; he had ventured out upon 
a missionary circuit that had enabled him to test the 
power of his message in heathen wilds; he had, in the 
Council at Jerusalem, met and settled the question of 
the precedence of the gospel's claim over all the inter- 
ests that seemed for a time to clash against it (nay, 
more: the gospel by this time had invaded a new con- 
tinent, and there Paul had seen a Roman jailer tremble 
before its power); he had proclaimed unabashed on the 
heights of the Athenian Acropolis a wisdom of God that 
none of the wise of this world had been able to discover; 
and he had seen this same gospel fling its heavenly light 
into the dark depths of Corinthian degradation. And 
now from this hell hole of heathenism he is writing to 
a group of Christians in the city of Thessalonica — a city 
of all cities the least likely, for it lay at the foot of 
Mount Olympus, the holy mountain of ancient pagan- 
ism. The question naturally arises: What had he been 
preaching all this time if not the gospel — the same gos- 
pel that he preached later to the Ephesians and to the 
Colossians, the same gospel which in the providence of 
God has been handed down to us? 

There is, however, a development traceable in Paul's 
continually enlarging application of the gospel to the 
necessities laid upon him by the ever-changing environ- 
ment in which he found himself and his converts. To 
begin with, he of course preached a gospel for individ- 
ual life. This was his supreme message. He had heard 
it himself in the word, "Saul, Saul," that had fallen 
upon his startled ear. He had seen the fruit of it in the 
renewal of his inner life. Hence, no matter what man 
he met, he could proclaim the possibility of his recon- 
struction after the pattern of Christ. Nay, more: so 
fully was he conscious of the power of Christ in the in- 
dividual life that he could truly say, "I live, yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me"; and in humility, yet unshak- 
able conviction, he could say to others: "Be ye followers 
of me as I am of Christ." 



218 Life and Letters of Paul 

But the individual is only a unit in the vast multi- 
tude — a molecule in the mass of society. Paul early saw 
that the gospel must have a message for society. He 
was not blind to the fact that the great theme of Jesus 
as a preacher was the kingdom of God, which, whatever 
else it may mean, means at least the rule of God in the 
social order. It is true that Paul talks more about the 
Church than he does about the kingdom. But the dif- 
ference between him and Christ is not the difference of 
antagonism, but the difference of viewpoint. Jesus 
gave the ideal and brought to earth the motive power 
for its attainment; Paul's providential lot was to in- 
augurate and manipulate the machinery necessary for 
the harnessing of this power and the final accomplish- 
ment of this ideal. Hence his constant care is "the care 
of all the Churches," for it is through these as channels 
of Christ's power and instruments in his hands that 
God's goal will be reached. These new conditions that 
forced Paul to consider the message of the gospel for 
society were first presented to him fully when he con- 
fronted the corruption rampant in the city of Corinth. 
Hence his first epistle to the Church in that place may 
well be made the subject of a study of the application 
of the gospel to social problems, for it will well repay 
any student to gather from that source tho social vices 
that Christianity condemns and the social virtues it 
commends. It is here that we meet with social ques- 
tions for the most part in Paul. Factions, social im- 
purity, lawsuits, marriage, divorce, questions of con- 
science, the "woman" question — all these and more are 
discussed in a truly masterful and really "modern" way 
by Paul; and lo! it is Paul that has anticipated the most 
influential of our Christian sociologists in declaring the 
principle that all these vexing problems are to be solved 
in the honest application of the three great social laws 
— the law of mutual service, the law of loving sympathy, 
and the law of self-sacrifice. 

But Paul's gospel is larger still. Neither the deep 



The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 219 

depths of individual need nor the vexing complexities of 
the social order exhausts its significance. It has a place 
in the great current of human history. The more Paul 
preached in the various centers of civilization and the 
more he studied the fundamental revelation of Christ 
to his own soul, the more fully did this truth dawn upon 
him. In the epistle to the Romans, which was sent to 
the city that was the goal of all the historical evolution 
of the ancient world, he elaborates this idea with a depth 
of insight and a comprehensiveness of grasp that have 
won for it the fame of being the most profound glance 
that was ever cast into the philosophy of universal his- 
tory. In this majestic message Paul shows that Chris- 
tianity is not an impertinent innovation, insolently ''but- 
ting in" to the currents of human events, but it is part 
and parcel of the evolution of the race, and you must 
destroy history itself before you can tear out of its pages 
this revelation of Christ. Though the tree whose fruit is 
for the healing of the nations did not bloom till the "full- 
ness of time"; yet its roots lie widespread through many 
generations of men and go deep down into the very heart 
of humanity's progress, so that to eradiate Christianity 
would be to throw all times "out of joint." Richter's 
strong statement is only half the truth; for not only 
has Jesus with his pierced hands lifted the gates of em- 
pires off their hinges, but, strange to say, his mighty 
power to change the channels of human progress is seen 
long before he comes to earth. And in the marvelously 
opportune confluence of the triple streams of ancient 
civilization — the Jewish, the Greek, and the Roman — 
we see the homage that history pays to Him who is 
King of kings, and who came in the fullness of time to 
inaugurate influences that will eventually transform the 
kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of our Lord 
and of his Christ. 

The gospel of the individual, the gospel of society, and 
the gospel of history have their logical and inevitable 
climax in the gospel of the universe. This is the great 



220 Life and Letters of Paul 

message of Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians. For 
this reason many feel disposed to cut this out of the list 
of truly Pauline writings. The Christ of the Cosmos is 
so far beyond the Man of Galilee that their faith can- 
not bear the strain. And yet to Paul it is the necessary 
implication that comes from the thoroughgoing appli- 
cation of Christ's work and the proper appreciation of 
his Person. He that came to redeem one world has a 
relation to all worlds, just as he that can save one soul 
has a secret for all souls, and he that can satisfy the 
deepest needs of one age has a message that makes him 
the contemporary of all the centuries. The external cir- 
cumstance that led to the expression of this phase of 
Paul's gospel was the incipient Gnosticism that threat- 
ened to rob Christ of his unique place in the universe 
and in the soul of the believer. Hence Paul's powerful 
protest and his eloquent exhausting of all epithets to 
show that in all things Christ has the preeminence, see- 
ing that he is the Image of the Invisible God, the Crea- 
tor and Controller of the universe, the Head of both the 
material and moral Cosmos. Paul here reaches the cli- 
max of his gospel. There is no other range for human 
eye to scan; but if there be, Christ is Lord there, too. 
For it is the pleasure of the Father that in him should 
all the fullness dwell. Paul is thus at one with John 
and the writer to the Hebrews and all Christian think- 
ers that seek a key to creation. 

It is hardly necessary to add that these various phases 
of Paul's ever-enlarging gospel are not mutually ex- 
clusive. It is one gospel, and Paul is such a master of 
its meaning that he is able to combine all the various 
applications at one and the same time. While he is try- 
ing to show the individual Thessalonians how to please 
God and walk about in this world, he is at the same 
moment laying down principles of social obligation the 
purity and splendor of which were never so much as 
dreamed of on the heights of Mount Olympus. While 
he is grappling with the social sins that threaten to en- 



The Ever-Enlarging Gospel of Paul 221 

gulf the Corinthian community, he embraces the oppor- 
tunity to show the relation of the new covenant to the 
old. When in the letter to the Romans he is compassing 
the mighty theme of human history as seen through the 
perspective of divine Providence, he takes time to tell 
us that the whole creation of God is involved in the 
gospel and groans and travails in the pangs of the birth 
that is to.be. And even in the case of the Colossian 
epistle, when we might think that the all-absorbing 
theme of Christ's relation to the universe would exempt 
him from touching minor mundane matters, Paul finds 
time to write a special note in behalf of a runaway 
slave whom he in his zeal as a personal worker, herald- 
ing the gospel for the individual, had rescued from the 
slums of Rome. 



XXIV. THE HEART OF PAUL'S 
DOCTRINES 

Paul is the Doctor Doctorum of the Universal Church, 
and his doctrines cover a wide range. He rises to the 
highest heights, and he descends to the lowest depths; 
he goes the whole gamut. He has a great deal to say 
of God. We may, for example, go through his letters 
and gather a group of statements which we may formu- 
late into a body of teaching concerning the nature and 
attributes of Him who is in all and through all and over 
all. We may presume that the apostle had a good deal 
to think and say regarding man, and so we can trace 
through these same writings his conception of the con- 
stituent elements of human nature and also to some ex- 
tent gather his idea of the evolution of the race as regis- 
tered in history. Again, Paul has a great fund of teach- 
ing the object of which is to illuminate, elucidate, and 
authenticate the work of the Holy Spirit; and a glow- 
ing chapter might be written just by forming a catena 
of those passages where Paul describes the Spirit as 
God immanent in the world, creating the new creature 
in Christ Jesus, warming the soul of man into conscious 
filial relation to God, the bond and medium of commun- 
ion among the brotherhood and the earthly pledge and 
earnest of our heavenly inheritance. Then, too, Paul 
has a doctrine of the Church. He had a great deal to do 
with its organization and its extension into places 
where it was hitherto unknown; he had a great deal to 
do with developing and disciplining its members; he 
had a great deal to do with planning for its future 
success; and all this has left a deep impress on his 
writings. To such an extent is this true that the 
"Church" looms larger on Paul's horizon than on that 
of all the other New Testament writers combined. At 
(222) 



The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 223 

all times he is made brave by the fact of her divine 
foundation; his energies are constantly at the call of 
her need, his prayers ascend continually for her wel- 
fare; and his heart is made ever to rejoice at the 
thought of her ultimate triumph. But Paul does not 
lose the "kingdom" in his zeal and devotion for the 
"Church," like so many of us moderns. He recognizes 
that the Church is simply a channel — an instrument 
for the attainment of a larger end. This end is the 
"kingdom of the Son of his love," and into this theme 
Paul at times throws the full energy of his soul; and 
as a consequence he, more than all others combined, has 
been able to relate the kingdom of God to human his- 
tory and see as God weaves in the roaring loom of 
time his matchless purpose for the race, the "one far-off 
divine event toward which the whole creation moves." 

But in spite of the interest and importance of these 
great themes, there is another that claims our attention 
at this time, for from Paul's point of view it is far more 
fundamental. This one is the central core of Paul's 
teachings — namely, his doctrine of the Person of Christ 
and our personal salvation through him. This, indeed, 
is the sanctum sanctorum of all the mysteries; for it is 
through the Person of Christ, and through it alone, that 
in the Christian sense there has been opened up for 
humanity a gateway to God. We see him as he is only 
through Christ. Here is the voicing of centuries of 
futile effort. "No man hath seen God at any time!" 
The Only-Begotten of the Father alone hath exegeted 
him. Here therefore is the inspiring response of Christ 
himself: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." 

It is in the Person of Christ, too, that we see man as 
well as God. The largest light that streams upon the 
problem of human nature is not the murky gloom which 
science brings to us from the lower ranks of animal life 
or the faint twilight that issues from the cavernous 
depths where the cave men dwell; but the true light 
that throws light upon every man that comes into the, 



224 Life and Letters of Paul 

world and makes him stand forth before the universe 
at his true valuation is the effulgent glory of divine 
grace as it rolls down the slopes of Calvary and bathes 
a race in the mighty tide of its infinite love. 

It is in the Person of Christ also and our own per- 
sonal salvation through him that the Holy Spirit "comes 
to his own," for it is his sacred office to take of the 
things of Christ and show them unto us. True forever 
is it that he works upon lower planes. There is a spirit 
in man — this is the mark of his manhood — and the in- 
spiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. 
But the Spirit of God cannot afford to exhaust himself 
on these lower altitudes; it is worthy that he have a 
subject for disclosure of value transcending earth. So 
his supreme task is the translation of the mind of Christ 
and the constant presentation of his heavenly ideal of 
character for our copying. 

Then as to the Church — would there ever have been 
any Church without Christ as its Head and men saved 
by him as its members? "Would there have been any or- 
ganization possible or discipline necessary had there not 
first been the supreme command of Christ ringing with 
all authority to go into all the world and the supreme 
ideal of perfect manhood which constitutes him the 
Desire of all nations? And the kingdom, too, would 
have scant meaning without the King himself and the 
body of his loyal subjects — men and women who have 
been redeemed from the thraldom of an old-time des- 
potism (the despotism of sin) and are now rejoicing in 
the liberty of the sons and daughters of God in that 
realm whose atmosphere is vibrant with the melody of 
righteousness, peace, and joy. 

So we cannot be far wrong in maintaining that the 
heart of St. Paul's doctrines is his teaching concerning 
the Person of Christ, the one Channel through whom 
have come to humanity rich streams of spiritual bless- 
ing else forever unknown, and the correlate to this, our 
own personal salvation, which is the earthly apprcpria- 



The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 225 

tion of his heavenly revelation — the reception on the 
part of man of the unspeakable gift of God. 

Two remarks are pertinent at this stage. The first is 
that Paul's conception of Christianity demands the per- 
sonal relation, and the second is that Paul's interpreta- 
tion of Christianity emphasizes the vital. First, Chris- 
tianity demands the personal relation. Christianity is 
Christ — nothing more, nothing less. If you can ever 
get a creed as large as Christ, that creed will be Chris- 
tianity, but no other mere creed. 

"Our little systems have their day; 

They have their day and cease to be : 
They are but broken lights of thee, 
And thou, Lord, art more than they." 

Religion with Paul is personal, not propositional. It 
is the leverage of love, not that of logic, that lifts men 
from sin to sanctity. A necessary implication is that he 
that can do this is no mere man. This is the one task 
at which all men have failed and failed utterly. Hea- 
thenism is a witness; Judaism is a witness; we our- 
selves are witnesses; all history is clamant. "All have 
sinned and come short of the glory of God." Who is it 
that has brought the full revelation of the divine glory 
and made possible the complete restoration of man's 
nature? Why, only the God-Man. What law could not 
do with all its thunders God did by the still small voice 
of his Son, who did not strive nor cry nor lift up even 
so much as his voice in the street. But by the mighty 
pulsations of a heart of infinite love and compassion 
Christ has stormed the citadel of humanity and has bat- 
tered down the walls that our sins and prejudices have 
built between us and our Father, so that we are per- 
suaded that inasmuch as the great gulf of sin, black 
and bottomless, has not been able to separate us from 
the love of God (for the divine passion was strong 
enough to leap even that chasm), no height nor depth 
15 



226 Life and Letters of Paul 

(God has all power), nothing past, nothing present, 
nothing future (God has no chronology, for he is the 
same yesterday, to-day, and forever), no creature (God 
is Creator), no suffering (God is Physician), no perse- 
cution (God is Protector), not even death (God is our 
Life) — nothing (God is supreme) can separate us from 
the love of God which has been divinely demonstrated 
in Christ. 

This is Paul's great argument, and it is an argument 
based not on the fragile foundations of human logic, 
but on the impregnable Rock of divine love revealed in 
a Person. Who is strong enough to bear such a mes- 
sage? who worthy to open this volume that is filled not 
with the drama of human history, but holds in its pages 
the story of the eternal passion of the infinite God? 
Well may we have stood weeping still had not He whom 
we know as "strong Son of God, immortal Love," by his 
own broken heart opened up to our enraptured gaze the 
glory of God's nature as it expresses itself in self-effac- 
ing love for men! Standing with veiled faces and ador- 
ing hearts in the presence of this demonstration of 
divine devotion, we cry out with Paul: "God commend- 
eth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sin- 
ners, Christ died for the ungodly." And our hearts leap 
for the joyful confidence the logic of love begets, and 
we exclaim: 

"Let me no more my comfort draw 
Prom my frail hold of Thee; 
In this alone rejoice with awe, 
Thy mighty grasp of me." 

If the first point Paul scores is that Christianity is 
personal, the second is like unto it — namely, that it is 
vital. We live in proportion to the range of our per- 
sonal relationships. It is not going too far to say that 
the twentieth century will see more spiritual biology 
in the New Testament than formal theology. Christ 



The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 227 

came that we might have life, and life does not filter 
through formulas; it is transmitted through vital con- 
tact. Paul is Christ's great interpreter and has caught 
his point of view and elaborated it most thoroughly. 
For Paul, therefore, the Christian life begins with a 
resurrection. "If ye then be risen with Christ" — this is 
the a b c of the believer's experience. With many peo- 
ple the resurrection of the body seems to be the ultimate 
goal of Christianity; with Paul, however, the resurrec- 
tion of the self from the death of sin is the starting 
point. Christ's work in the salvation of the individual 
begins with a miracle the marvel of which far tran- 
scends all the wonder of a somatic resurrection; its first 
note is a bugle blast from a resurrection trump that 
awakes those that are dead in trespasses and in sins 
and calls them 'forth in newness of life in Christ Jesus. 
The preacher's first message to men is: "Awake, thou 
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
give thee life!" This was Paul's slogan as he looked out 
over the valley of that death into which sin had hurled 
humanity. Hence the emphasis he puts on the three 
terms, "death," "burial," and "rising," as indicative of 
the main stages in the process of salvation. His con- 
ception of faith — i. e., trust so full as to make for 
identification of personality — enabled him to see that 
the believer by his grip on his Lord really follows 
Christ in three great epochal events in his earthly life — 
namely, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. As 
Christ died, so we, by faith, die to sin; as Christ was 
buried, so we, by the power of that faith which assimi- 
lates us to him, are buried to self; as Christ arose vic- 
torious from death, so we by the spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus rise from the death we have died to sin and from 
the grave of our buried selves new creatures in him who 
from now on is the Lord of our life. It is here that 
Paul revels in those phrases that we are prone to pass 
over so lightly, but which mean everything to him. 
Such phrases as "to be in Christ"; "Christ in you"; "I 



228 Life and Letters of Paul 

live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me"— these expres- 
sions are the essence of personal salvation as Paul pro- 
claims it, for they are the appropriation in. personal ex- 
perience of Christ's own teaching ("I am the Vine, ye 
are the branches"; 'If ye abide in me, and I in you, ye 
shall bear much fruit — so shall ye be my disciples"). 
Yea, more; these expressions of Paul are the fulfillment 
in individual life of the fundamental promise of the 
incarnation. "His name shall be Immanuel, which is, 
being interpreted, God with us." So "Christ in you the 
hope of glory" becomes the heart of Paul's teachings. 

God in nature is a grand subject for contemplation; 
God in history is a conception full of inspiration; God 
in revelation is a thought that thrills; God in humanity, 
working, suffering, dying, is replete with comfort; but 
God in individual experience, leaving the high and holy 
place of his infinite Self and condescending to dwell in 
the heart of the humble, is God at his highest — and man 
too; for it is from the depth of the heart of the indi- 
vidual man that there wells up most fittingly the praise, 
"Glory to God in the highest!" Such a song, springing 
from the fountain of joy opened up in the soul that has 
been saved from sin on earth, means more to God than 
all the music that can burst through the lips of celestial 
choristers; for "there is more joy in heaven over the 
return of one sinning man than over ninety and nine 
just angels that went not astray." 

And the reason is obvious. If the individual soul is 
what the Bible and our own consciousness affirm, it is 
the most worthful thing in the universe save God him- 
self; for it is the only thing in the universe which is 
close kin to the Creator. Angels even are his crea- 
tures; men are his children. Hence the keynote of the 
highest religion is to bridge the chasm that yawns be- 
tween the Father and his sons. Its goal must be the 
restoration of the race to the long-forfeited family cir- 
cle and the Father's loving embrace. Any religion that 
falls short of this falls too short to do us any per- 



The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 229 

manent good. Christianity commends itself to us be- 
cause in it God has come nigh to man and through it 
men may draw nigh to God. The gaping gulf has been 
bridged. God and man are — in hailing distance of each 
other. Yea, they are — in easy reach; yea, they are clasp- 
ing hands; yea, they are exchanging words; yea, they 
are reciprocating heartbeats; yea, we are becoming par- 
takers of the divine nature. And the explanation is: 
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.'' 
And as we look at the marvel of Christ's mediatorial 
ministry, revealing God and redeeming men, we seem 
to hear from every side the inviting exhortation: 

"Speak to him, thou, for he hears, 

And spirit with spirit can meet; 
Closer is he than breathing, 
Nearer than hands and feet." 

It is futile to cry, "Mysticism!" and hoot at all this 
as the supersession of the intellect and the enthrone- 
ment of the feelings. It is doubtless true that of the 
two evils we should prefer rationalism to mysticism; 
for, "however grave the errors of reason, those of the 
imagination are still more deplorable." But neither 
intellect nor feeling is an evil if every thought is held 
captive by Christ. And this is Paul's perennial claim 
upon our following. He determined to know nothing 
save Christ and him crucified, and this same Christ of 
Calvary was the ever-flowing fountain from which 
gushed in glad jubilation the full current of his* highest 
feeling: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The return to Paul, therefore, which our present cen- 
tury will see will not mean a return to a museum of 
theological mummies, nor to a mausoleum of long- 
buried superstitions. But a return to Paul means a re- 
covery of the vital power of the gospel; it means tap- 
ping anew the sources of spiritual life; it means union 



230 Life and Letters of Paul 

with Christ, therefore union and communion with God. 
"Mystical?" Yes; we do not hate a good word, for all 
the bad uses it has been put to. The interplay of per- 
sonality upon personality will always have this inde- 
finable element. This is the secret spring, hidden be- 
neath the surface, possibly deep down in the region of 
the subconscious — the deeper down the better. It is the 
marriage of the soul, the wedding of the life, the troth- 
ing of the self to the Saviour. The inner heart experi- 
ence of a Booth, of a Wesley, of a Luther, of an Augus- 
tine, of a Paul, of a true believer to-day is bound to be 
the same — "there is no respect of persons" with our 
Lord. And that experience is the invasion of the citadel 
of our character by the conquering Christ, so that he 
becomes our All in All and we become entirely his. 
This is the heart of Paul's teaching, and from the 
capacious reservoir of this vital and vitalizing energy 
there issue forth throbs of loving sympathy that reach 
down to the lowest depths of human despair and carry 
the thrill of a heavenly inspiration; and thence, too, 
flow forth to the outermost limit of human need steady 
streams of sacrificial effort which make for the redemp- 
tion of the race and the fruitage of whose flowing shall 
make forever glad the city of our God. 

It is therefore with Paul as it was with the soldier 
of the Old Guard — "probe deep enough, and you will 
find the Emperor." Paul on the surface is a preacher, a 
pastor, a polemic, a pioneer, a what not; but Paul at 
the center is a Christ-iem, a man domin-ated, lorded 
over by Christ. Christ is the supreme discovery Paul 
has made in life, and the discovery is mutual; he him- 
self has been apprehended long before he apprehends. 

The miracle of personal salvation through the per- 
sonal Saviour constitutes for Paul the heart of all his 
teaching. It is the first thing he really knew; it is the 
last thing he will deny. This is the crowning miracle 
of grace. "Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save 



The Heart of Paul's Doctrines 231 

sinners; of whom I am chief." This is the miracle of a 
greater grace. "We all, with unveiled face beholding as 
in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into 
the same image." This is the miracle of the greatest 
grace that even God can father. "The Spirit himself 
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of 
God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that 
we may be also glorified with him." Here the "mystical 
union" of earth has been merged in the clear and un- 
interrupted communion of heaven. We have been co- 
workers and co-sufferers; now we are co-heirs and co- 
sovereigns. This is the union that must be preserved 
at all costs. This is the heart of Christianity, and 
nothing can survive the loss of its heart. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: June 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 



